EXPOSITIONS  OF  HOLY  SCRIPTURE 


JUL  28  1959  ^ 


EXPOSITIONS  igm^^ 

HOLY  SCRIPTURE 

ALEXANDER  MACLAREN,  D.  D.,  Litt.  D. 


SECOND  CORINTHIANS 

Chaps,  VII  to  End 

GALATIANS  AND 
PHILIPPIANS 


HODDER  &  STOUGHTON 

NEW  YORK 

GEORGE  H.   DORAN  COMPANY 


CONTENTS 


II.  CORINTHIANS 


Bops  and  EtoLiNBss  (2  Cor.  vU.  1) .  •  • 


CM! 

1 


SoBBow  AccoBDmo  TO  GoD  (2  Cor.  vii.  10) 


.    8 


GiviNO  AND  A8SINO  (2  Cor.  viii  142)         •  • 


20 


Rich  tbt  Poor  (2  Cor.  viii.  9)        «  •  • 


27 


WlLUNO  AND  NOT  DOINO  (2  COT.  viil.  11)    .  • 


80 


All  Gracb  Abounding  (2  Cor.  is.  8)        ,  • 


42 


God's  Unsfsasaslb  Gift  (2  Cor.  iz.  15)    ,  • 


GO 


A  Militant  Mbbsaoe  (2  Cor.  s.  5  and  6,  B. V.)       . 


67 


6UIFIJCIT7  TOWARDS  CHRIST  (2  Cor.  xl  8)  • 


rAOB 


vi  11.  CORINTHIANS 

arRBNGTB  IN  Wbaknkss  (2  Cor.  xiL  8;  0)    •  •  •        74 

Not  Yours  but  You  (2  Oor.  xii.  14)  ,  «  .83 


GALATIANS 

From  Centbb  to  Circumfbbbncb  (GaL  iL  20)  •  •        01 

Thb  Evil,  Btb  and  thb  Oharm  (GaL  iii.  1)  •  •100 

Lessons  of  Ezpebiencb  (Gal.  iii.  4)  •  •  •       lOd 

Tub  Univbrsai.  Prison  (GaL  iii  22)  •  »  •       U6 

Thb  Son  Sent  (Gai.  iv.  4»  6,  R.V.)  •  •  •128 

What  uaebs  a  Christian:  Circumcision  or  Faith P 

(GaLv.e)     ••••••        188 

•  Walk  in  the  Spirit  '  (GaL  v.  16)  •  •  •       18S 

Thb  FtiuiT  of  the  Spirit  (GaL  v.  22, 2S)  •  •  »       188 

BURDBN-BBARINO  ^GaL  vL  2^)  .  •  .  •171 


CONTENTS 


vu 


Doing  Good  to  All  (GaL  vi,  10)    ,  •  •  ,180 


Thb  Owner's  Bband  (Gal.  vi.  17)  •  ■ 


180 


PHILIPPIANS 


Loving  Gbbetings  (Phil.  i.  1-8,  R.V.)         •  • 


A  CoMPBEHENBiVB  Pbateb  (Phil.  i.  9-11,  R.V.)     • 


A  Pbisoneb's  Tbiumph  (Phil.  i.  12-20,  R.V.)  • 


A  Stbait  betwixt  Two  (Phil.  i.  21-25)      •  • 


Citizens  op  Heaven  (Phil.  i.  27,  28)  •  • 


A  Plea  fob  Unitt  (Phil.  ii.  1-4,  R.V.)       •  • 


The  Descent  of  the  Wobd  (Phil.  ii.  6-8,  R.V.)   • 


The  Ascent  of  Jesus  (Phil.  ii.  9-11,  R.V.) 


WoBK  Out  yottb  own  Salvation  (Phil.  ii.  12, 13) 


Copies  of  Jesus  (Phil.  ii.  14-16,  R.V.) 


200 


206 


211 


210 


233 


244 


253 


260 


268 


281 


viii      EPISTLE  TO  THE  PHILIPPIANS 

A  Welling  Sacbificb  (Phil.  ii.  16-18,  R.V.) 
Paul  and  Timothy  (Phil.  ii.  19-24,  R.V.)  , 


Paul  and  Epaphboditus  (Phil.  ii.  25-30,  R.  V.) 


Preparing  to  End  (Phil.  iii.  1-3,  R.V.) 


The  Loss  op  All  (Phil.  iii.  4-8,  R.V.) 


The  Gain  op  Christ  (Phil.  iii.  8,  9,  R.V.)  . 


Saving  Knowledge  (Phil.  iii.  10, 11,  R.V.) 


Laid  Hold  op  and  Laying  Hold  (Phil.  iii.  12) 


The  Race  and  the  Goal  (Phil.  iii.  13, 14) 


The  Soul's  Perfection  (Phil.  iii.  15)         • 


The  Rule  op  the  Road  (Phil.  iii.  16)        • 


Warnings  and  Hopes  (Phil.  iii.  17-21,  R.V.) 


PA6I 

2S7 


295 


306 
811 
321 
828 
336 
348 
359 


381 
•   891 


IL  CORINTHIANS 
HOPE  AND  HOLINESS 

Having  therefore  these  promises ...  let  ns  cleanse  onrselves  from  all  fllthinesa 
of  the  flesh  and  spirit,  perfecting  holiness  in  the  fear  of  God.'— 2  COK.  vii.  1. 

It  is  often  made  a  charge  against  professing  Christians 
that  their  religion  has  very  little  to  do  with  common 
morality.  The  taunt  has  sharpened  multitudes  of 
gibes  and  been  echoed  in  all  sorts  of  tones :  it  is  very 
often  too  true  and  perfectly  just,  but  if  ever  it  is,  let 
it  be  distinctly  understood  that  it  is  not  so  because  of 
Christian  men's  religion  but  in  spite  of  it.  Their 
bitterest  enemy  does  not  condemn  them  half  so  em- 
phatically as  their  own  religion  does :  the  sharpest  cen- 
sure of  others  is  not  so  sharp  as  the  rebukes  of  the  New 
Testament.  If  there  is  one  thing  which  it  insists  upon 
more  than  another,  it  is  that  religion  without  morality 
is  nothing — that  the  one  test  to  which,  after  all,  every 
man  must  submit  is,  what  sort  of  character  has  he  and 
how  has  he  behaved — is  he  pure  or  foul  ?  All  high- 
flown  pretension,  all  fervid  emotion  has  at  last  to  face 
the  question  which  little  children  ask,  *  Was  he  a  good 
man?' 

The  Apostle  has  been  speaking  about  very  high  and 
mystical  truths,  about  all  Christians  being  the  temple 
of  God,  about  God  dwelling  in  men,  about  men  and 
women  being  His  sons  and  daughters;  these  are  the 

A 


2  II.  CORINTHIANS  [ch.  vii. 

very  truths  on  which  so  often  fervid  imaginations 
have  built  up  a  mystical  piety  that  had  little  to  do 
with  the  common  rules  of  right  and  wrong.  But  Paul 
keeps  true  to  the  intensely  practical  purpose  of  his 
preaching  and  brings  his  heroes  down  to  the  prosaic 
earth  with  the  homely  common  sense  of  this  far- 
reaching  exhortation,  which  he  gives  as  the  fitting 
conclusion  for  such  celestial  visions. 

I.  A  Christian  life  should  be  a  life  of  constant  self- 
purifying. 

This  epistle  is  addressed  to  the  church  of  God  which 
is  at  Corinth  with  all  the  saints  which  are  in  all  Achaia. 

Looking  out  over  that  wide  region,  Paul  saw 
scattered  over  godless  masses  a  little  dispersed  com- 
pany to  each  of  whom  the  sacred  name  of  Saint 
applied.  They  had  been  deeply  stained  with  the  vices 
of  their  age  and  place,  and  after  a  black  list  of  criminals 
he  had  had  to  say  to  them  'such  were  some  of  you,' 
and  he  lays  his  finger  on  the  miracle  that  had  changed 
them  and  hesitates  not  to  say  of  them  all,  •  But  ye  are 
washed,  but  ye  are  sanctified,  but  ye  are  justified  in 
the  name  of  the  Lord  Jesus  and  by  the  Spirit  of  our 
God.' 

The  first  thing,  then,  that  every  Christian  has  is  a 
cleansing  which  accompanies  forgiveness,  and  however 
his  garment  may  have  been  'spotted  by  the  flesh,'  it 
is  •  washed  and  made  white  in  the  blood  of  the  Lamb.' 
Strange  cleansing  by  which  black  stains  melt  out  of 
garments  plunged  in  red  blood !  With  the  cleansing 
of  forgiveness  and  justification  comes,  wherever  they 
come,  the  gift  of  the  Holy  Spirit— a  new  life  springing 
up  within  the  old  life,  and  untouched  by  any  contact 
with  its  evils.  These  gifts  belong  universally  to  the 
initial   stage   of  the    Christian  life  and    require  for 


T.  1]  HOPE  AND  HOLINESS  8 

their  possession  only  the  receptiveness  of  faith.  They 
admit  of  no  co-operation  of  human  effort,  and  to 
possess  them  men  have  only  to  *  take  the  things  that 
are  freely  given  to  them  of  God.'  But  of  the  subse- 
quent stages  of  the  Christian  life,  the  laborious  and 
constant  effort  to  develop  and  apply  that  free  gift  is 
as  essential  as,  in  the  earliest  stage,  it  is  worse  than 
useless.  The  gift  received  has  to  be  wrought  into  the 
very  substance  of  the  soul,  and  to  be  wrought  out  in 
all  the  endless  varieties  of  life  and  conduct.  Christians 
are  cleansed  to  begin  with,  but  they  have  still  daily  to 
cleanse  themselves :  the  leaven  is  hid  in  the  three 
measures  of  meal,  but  *'tis  a  life-long  task  till  the 
lump  be  leavened,'  and  no  man,  even  though  he  has  the 
life  that  was  in  Jesus  within  him,  will  grow  up  •  into 
the  measure  of  the  stature  of  the  fulness  of  Christ' 
unless,  by  patient  and  persistent  effort,  he  is  ever 
pressing  on  to  '  the  things  that  are  before '  and  daily 
striving  to  draw  nearer  to  the  prize  of  his  high  calling. 
We  are  cleansed,  but  we  have  still  to  cleanse  our- 
selves. 

Yet  another  paradox  attaches  to  the  Christian  life, 
inasmuch  as  God  cleanses  us,  but  we  have  to  cleanse 
ourselves.  The  great  truth  that  the  spirit  of  God  in 
a  man  is  the  f ontal  source  of  all  his  goodness,  and  that 
Christ's  righteousness  is  given  to  us,  is  no  pillow  on 
which  to  rest  an  idle  head,  but  should  rather  be  a 
trumpet-call  to  effort  which  is  thereby  made  certain  of 
success.  If  we  were  left  to  the  task  of  self -purifying 
by  our  own  ejBPorts  we  might  well  fling  it  up  as  im- 
possible. It  is  as  easy  for  a  man  to  lift  himself  from 
the  ground  by  gripping  his  own  shoulders  as  it  is  for 
us  to  rise  to  greater  heights  of  moral  conduct  by  our 
own  efforts ;  but  if  we  can  believe  that  God  gives  the 


4  II.  CORINTHIANS  [oh.vil 

impulse  after  purity,  and  the  vision  of  what  purity  is, 
and  imparts  the  power  of  attaining  it,  strengthening 
at  once  our  dim  sight  and  stirring  our  feeble  desires 
and  energising  our  crippled  limbs,  then  we  can  *run 
with  patience  the  race  that  is  set  before  us.' 

We  must  note  the  thoroughness  of  the  cleansing 
which  the  Apostle  here  enjoins.  What  is  to  be  got  rid 
of  is  not  this  or  that  defect  or  vice,  but  *  all  filthiness 
of  fliesh  and  spirit.'  The  former,  of  course,  refers 
primarily  to  sins  of  impurity  which  in  the  eyes  of  the 
Greeks  of  Corinth  were  scarcely  sins  at  all,  and  the 
latter  to  a  state  of  mind  when  fancy,  imagination,  and 
memory  were  enlisted  in  the  service  of  evil.  Both  are 
rampant  in  our  day  as  they  were  in  Corinth.  Much 
modern  literature  and  the  new  gospel  of  '  Art  for  Art's 
sake'  minister  to  both,  and  every  man  carries  in  him- 
self inclinations  to  either.  It  is  no  partial  cleansing 
with  which  Paul  would  have  us  to  be  satisfied:  'alV 
filthiness  is  to  be  cast  out.  Like  careful  housewives 
who  are  never  content  to  cease  their  scrubbing  while 
a  speck  remains  upon  furniture,  Christian  men  are  to 
regard  their  work  as  unfinished  as  long  as  the  least 
trace  of  the  unclean  thing  remains  in  their  flesh  or  in 
their  spirit.  The  ideal  may  be  far  from  being  realised 
at  any  moment,  but  it  is  at  the  peril  of  the  whole 
sincerity  and  peacefulness  of  their  lives  if  they,  in  the 
smallest  degree,  lower  the  perfection  of  their  ideal  in 
deference  to  the  imperfection  of  their  realisation  of  it. 

It  must  be  abundantly  clear  from  our  own  experience 
that  any  such  cleansing  is  a  very  long  process.  No 
character  is  made,  whether  it  be  good  or  bad,  but  by 
a  slow  building  up:  no  man  becomes  most  wicked  all 
at  once,  and  no  man  is  sanctified  by  a  wish  or  at  a 
jump.     As  long  as  men  are  in  a  world  so  abounding 


f.  1]  HOPE  AND  HOLINESS  5 

with  temptation,  •  he  that  is  washed  '  will  need  daily 
to  *  wash  his  feet '  that  have  been  stained  in  the  foul 
ways  of  life,  if  he  is  to  be  'clean  every  whit.' 

As  long  as  the  spirit  is  imprisoned  in  the  body  and 
has  it  for  its  instrument  there  will  be  need  for  much 
effort  at  purifying.  We  must  be  content  to  overcome 
one  foe  at  a  time,  and  however  strong  may  be  the 
pilgrim's  spirit  in  us,  we  must  be  content  to  take  one 
step  at  a  time,  and  to  advance  by  very  slow  degrees. 
Nor  is  it  to  be  forgotten  that  as  we  get  nearer  what 
we  ought  to  be,  we  should  be  more  conscious  of  the 
things  in  which  we  are  not  what  we  ought  to  be.  The 
nearer  we  get  to  Jesus  Christ,  the  more  will  our 
consciences  be  enlightened  as  to  the  particulars  in 
which  we  are  still  distant  from  Him.  A  speck  on  a 
polished  shield  will  show  plain  that  would  never  have 
been  seen  on  a  rusty  one.  The  saint  who  is  nearest 
God  will  think  more  of  hia  sins  than  the  man  who  is 
furthest  from  him.  So  new  work  of  purifying  will 
open  before  us  as  we  grow  more  pure,  and  this  will 
last  as  long  as  life  itself. 

II.  The  Christian  life  is  to  be  not  merely  a  continual 
getting  rid  of  evil,  but  a  continual  becoming  good. 

Paul  here  draws  a  distinction  between  cleansing 
ourselves  from  filthiness  and  perfecting  holiness,  and 
these  two,  though  closely  connected  and  capable  of 
being  regarded  as  being  but  the  positive  and  negative 
sides  of  one  process,  are  in  reality  different,  though 
in  practice  the  former  is  never  achieved  without  the 
latter,  nor  the  latter  accomplished  without  the  former. 
Holiness  is  more  than  purity ;  it  is  consecration.  That 
is  holy  which  is  devoted  to  God,  and  a  saint  is  one 
whose  daily  effort  is  to  devote  his  whole  self,  in  all  his 
faculties  and  nature,  thoughts,  heart,  and  will,  more 


6  II.  CORINTHIANS  [ch.vii. 

and  more,  to  God,  and  to  receive  into  himself  more  and 
more  of  God. 

The  purifying  which  Paul  has  been  enjoining  will 
only  be  successful  in  the  measure  of  our  consecration, 
and  the  consecration  will  only  be  genuine  in  the 
measure  of  our  purifying.  Herein  lies  the  broad  and 
blessed  distinction  between  the  world's  morality  and 
Christian  ethics.  The  former  fails  just  because  it 
lacks  the  attitude  towards  a  Person  who  is  the  very 
foundation  of  Christian  morality,  and  changes  a  hard 
and  impossible  law  into  love.  There  is  no  more  futile 
wast©  of  breath  than  that  of  teachers  of  morality  who 
have  no  message  but  Be  good !  Be  good !  and  no  motive 
by  which  to  urge  it  but  the  pleasures  of  virtue  and  the 
disadvantages  of  vice,  but  when  the  vagueness  of  the 
abstract  thought  of  goodness  solidifies  into  a  living 
Person  and  that  Person  makes  his  appeal  first  to  our 
hearts  and  bids  us  love  him,  and  then  opens  before  us 
the  unstained  light  of  his  own  character  and  beseeches 
us  to  be  like  him,  the  repellent  becomes  attractive :  the 
impossible  becomes  possible,  and  'if  ye  love  Me  keep 
My  commandments '  becomes  a  constraining  power  and 
a  victorious  impulse  in  our  lives. 

III.  The  Christian  life  of  purifying  and  consecration 
is  to  be  animated  by  hope  and  fear. 

The  Apostle  seems  to  connect  hope  more  immediately 
with  the  cleansing,  and  holiness  with  the  fear  of  God, 
but  probably  both  hope  and  fear  are  in  his  mind  as  the 
double  foundation  on  which  both  purity  and  consecra- 
tion are  to  rest,  or  the  double  emotion  which  is  to 
produce  them  both.  These  promises  refer  directly  to 
the  immediately  preceding  words,  •  I  will  be  a  Father 
unto  you  and  ye  shall  be  My  sons  and  daughters,' 
in  which  all  the  blessings  which  God  can  give  or  mep 


v.l]  HOPE  AND  HOLINESS  7 

can  receive  are  fused  together  in  one  lustrous  and  all- 
comprehensive  whole.  So  all  the  great  truths  of  the 
Gospel  and  all  the  blessed  emotions  of  sonship  which 
can  spring  up  in  a  human  heart  are  intended  to  find 
their  practical  result  in  holy  and  pure  living.  For  this 
end  God  has  spoken  to  us  out  of  the  thick  darkness ; 
for  this  end  Christ  has  come  into  our  darkness ;  for 
this  end  He  has  lived ;  for  this  end  He  died ;  for  this 
end  He  rose  again;  for  this  end  He  sends  His  Spirit 
and  administers  the  providence  of  the  world.  The 
purpose  of  all  the  Divine  activity  as  regards  us  men  is 
not  merely  to  make  us  happy,  but  to  make  us  happy 
in  order  that  we  may  be  good.  He  whom  what  he 
calls  his  religion  has  only  saved  from  the  wrath  of  God 
and  the  fear  of  hell  has  not  learned  the  alphabet  of 
religion.  Unless  God's  promises  evoke  men's  goodness 
it  will  be  of  little  avail  that  they  seem  to  quicken 
their  hope.  Joyful  confidence  in  our  sonship  is  only 
warranted  in  the  measure  in  which  we  are  like  our 
Father.  Hope  often  deludes  and  makes  men  dreamy 
and  unpractical.  It  generally  paints  pictures  far  lovelier 
than  the  realities,  and  without  any  of  their  shadows ; 
it  is  too  often  the  stimulus  and  ally  of  ignoble  lives, 
and  seldom  stirs  to  heroism  or  endurance,  but  its  many 
defects  are  not  due  to  itself  but  to  its  false  choice  of 
objects  on  which  to  fix.  The  hope  which  is  lifted  from 
trailing  along  the  earth  and  twining  round  creatures 
and  which  rises  to  grasp  these  promises  ought  to  be, 
and  in  the  measure  of  its  reality  is  the  ally  of  all 
patient  endurance  and  noble  self-sacrifice.  Its  vision 
of  coming  good  is  all  directed  to  the  coming  Christ, 
and  *  every  man  that  hath  this  hope  in  Him,  purifieth 
himself  even  as  He  is  pure.' 
In  Paul's  experience  there  was  no  contrariety  between 


8  II.  CORINTHIANS  [ch.vii. 

hope  set  on  Jesus  and  fear  directed  towards  God.  It 
is  in  the  fear  of  God  that  holiness  is  to  be  perfected 
There  is  a  fear  which  has  no  torment.  Yet  more,  there 
is  no  love  in  sons  or  daughters  without  fear.  The 
reverential  awe  with  which  God's  children  draw  near 
to  God  has  in  it  nothing  slavish  and  no  terror.  Their 
love  is  not  only  joyful  but  lowly.  The  worshipping 
gaze  upon  His  Divine  majesty,  the  reverential  and 
adoring  contemplation  of  His  ineffable  holiness,  and 
the  poignant  consciousness,  after  all  effort,  of  the 
distance  between  us  and  Him  will  bow  the  hearts  that 
love  Him  most  in  lowliest  prostration  before  Him. 
These  two,  hope  and  fear,  confidence  and  awe,  are 
like  the  poles  on  which  the  whole  round  world  turns 
and  are  united  here  in  one  result.  They  who  '  set  their 
hope  in  God '  must  *  not  forget  the  works  of  God  but 
keep  His  commandments ' ;  they  who  *  call  Him  Father,' 
•  who  without  respect  of  persons  judgeth '  must  '  pass 
the  time  of  their  sojourning  here  in  fear,'  and  their 
hopes  and  their  fears  must  drive  the  wheels  of  life, 
purify  them  from  all  filthiness  and  perfect  them  in 
all  holiness. 


SORROW  ACCORDING  TO  GOD 

'Oodly  sorrow  worketb  repentance  to  salvation  not  to  be  repented  of:  bnt 
the  sorrow  of  the  world  worJteth  death.'— 2  Cor.  vii.  10. 

Very  near  the  close  of  his  missionary  career  the 
Apostle  Paul  summed  up  his  preaching  as  being  all 
directed  to  enforcing  two  points,  '  Repentance  towards 
God,  and  faith  in  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ.'  These  two, 
repentance  and  faith,  ought  never  to  be  separated 
in   thought,  as    they  are  inseparable  in  fact.     True 


▼.  10]  SORROW  ACCORDING  TO  GOD        9 

repentance  is  impossible  without  faith,  true  faith 
cannot  exist  without  repentance. 

Yet  the  two  are  separated  very  often,  even  by 
earnest  Christian  teachers.  The  tendency  of  this  day 
is  to  say  a  great  deal  about  faith,  and  not  nearly 
enough  in  proportion  about  repentance ;  and  the 
effect  is  to  obscure  the  very  idea  of  faith,  and  not 
seldom  to  preach  'Peace!  peace!  when  there  is  no 
peace.'  A  gospel  which  is  always  talking  about  faith, 
and  scarcely  ever  talking  about  sin  and  repentance, 
is  denuded,  indeed,  of  some  of  its  most  unwelcome 
characteristics,  but  is  also  deprived  of  most  of  its 
power,  and  it  may  very  easily  become  an  ally  of 
unrighteousness,  and  an  indulgence  to  sin.  The 
reproach  that  the  Christian  doctrine  of  salvation 
through  faith  is  immoral  in  its  substance  derives  most 
of  its  force  from  forgetting  that  *  repentance  towards 
God '  is  as  real  a  condition  of  salvation  as  is  *  faith  in 
our  Lord  Jesus  Christ.'  We  have  here  the  Apostle's 
deliverance  about  one  of  these  twin  thoughts.  We 
have  three  stages  —  the  root,  the  stem,  the  fruit ; 
sorrow,  repentance,  salvation.  But  there  is  a  right 
and  a  wrong  kind  of  sorrow  for  sin.  The  right  kind 
breeds  repentance,  and  thence  reaches  salvation ;  the 
wrong  kind  breeds  nothing,  and  so  ends  in  death. 

Let  us  then  trace  these  stages,  not  forgetting  that 
this  is  not  a  complete  statement  of  the  case,  and  needs 
to  be  supplemented  in  the  spirit  of  the  words  which  I 
have  already  quoted,  by  the  other  part  of  the  insepar- 
able whole,  '  faith  towards  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ.' 

I.  First,  then,  consider  the  true  and  the  false  sorrow 
for  sin. 

The  Apostle  takes  it  for  granted  that  a  recognition 
of  our  own  evil,  and  a  consequent  penitent  regretful- 


10  II.  CORINTHIANS  [oH.vn. 

ness,  lie  at  the  foundation  of  all  true  Christianity. 
Now  I  do  not  insist  upon  any  uniformity  of  experience 
in  people,  any  more  than  I  should  insist  that  all  their 
bodies  should  be  of  one  shape  or  of  one  proportion. 
Human  lives  are  infinitely  different,  human  disposi- 
tions are  subtly  varied,  and  because  neither  the  one 
nor  the  other  are  ever  reproduced  exactly  in  any  two 
people,  therefore  the  religious  experience  of  no  two 
souls  can  ever  be  precisely  alike. 

We  have  no  right  to  ask — and  much  harm  has  been 
done  by  asking — for  an  impossible  uniformity  of 
religious  experience,  any  more  than  we  have  a  right  to 
expect  that  all  voices  shall  be  pitched  in  one  key,  or 
all  plants  flower  in  the  same  month,  or  after  the  same 
fashion.  You  can  print  off  as  many  copies  as  you 
like,  for  instance,  of  a  drawing  of  a  flower  on  a 
printing-press,  and  they  shall  all  be  alike,  petal  for 
petal,  leaf  for  leaf,  shade  for  shade ;  but  no  two  hand- 
drawn  copies  will  be  so  precisely  alike,  still  less  will 
any  two  of  the  real  buds  that  blow  on  the  bush.  Life 
produces  resemblance  with  differences ;  it  is  machinery 
that  makes  facsimiles. 

So  we  insist  on  no  pedantic  or  unreal  uniformity ; 
and  yet,  whilst  leaving  the  widest  scope  for  diver- 
gencies of  individual  character  and  experience,  and 
not  asking  that  a  man  all  diseased  and  blotched  with 
the  leprosy  of  sin  for  half  a  lifetime,  and  a  little  child 
that  has  grown  up  at  its  mother's  knee, '  in  the  nurture 
and  admonition  of  the  Lord,'  and  so  has  been  kept 
*  innocent  of  much  transgression,'  shall  have  the  same 
experience ;  yet  Scripture,  as  it  seems  to  me,  and  the 
nature  of  the  case  do  unite  in  asserting  that  there  are 
certain  elements  which,  in  varying  proportions  indeed, 
will  be  found  in  all  true  Christian  experience,  and  of 


v.lO]   SORROW  ACCORDING  TO  GOD      11 

these  an  indispensable  one  —  and  in  a  very  large 
number,  if  not  in  the  majority  of  cases,  a  fundamental 
one — is  this  which  my  text  calls  '  godly  sorrow.' 

Dear  brethren,  surely  a  reasonable  consideration  of 
the  facts  of  our  conduct  and  character  point  to  that  as 
the  attitude  that  becomes  us.  Does  it  not  ?  I  do  not 
charge  you  with  crimes  in  the  eye  of  the  law.  I  do 
not  suppose  that  many  of  you  are  living  in  flagrant 
disregard  of  the  elementary  principles  of  common 
every-day  morality.  Some  are,  no  doubt.  There  are, 
no  doubt,  unclean  men  here ;  there  are  some  who  eat 
and  drink  more  than  is  good  for  them,  habitually; 
there  are,  no  doubt,  men  and  women  who  are  living 
in  avarice  and  worldliness,  and  doing  things  which  the 
ordinary  conscience  of  the  populace  points  to  as  faults 
and  blemishes.  But  I  come  to  you  respectable  people 
that  can  say:  *I  am  not  as  other  men  are,  unjust, 
adulterers,  or  even  as  this  publican';  and  pray  you, 
dear  friends,  to  look  at  your  character  all  round,  in  the 
light  of  the  righteousness  and  love  of  God,  and  to 
plead  to  the  indictment  which  charges  you  with  neglect 
of  many  a  duty  and  with  sin  against  Him.  How  do 
you  plead,  '  guilty  or  not  guilty,  sinful  or  not  sinful  ? ' 
Be  honest  with  yourselves,  and  the  answer  will  not  be 
far  to  seek. 

Notice  how  my  text  draws  a  broad  distinction 
between  the  right  and  the  wrong  kind  of  sorrow  for 
sin.  'Godly  sorrow'  is,  literally  rendered,  'sorrow 
according  to  God,'  which  may  cither  mean  sorrow 
which  has  reference  to  God,  or  sorrow  which  is  in 
accordance  with  His  will;  that  is  to  say,  which  is 
pleasing  to  Him.  If  it  is  the  former,  it  will  be  the 
latter.  I  prefer  to  suppose  that  it  is  the  former — that 
is,  sorrow  which  has  reference  to  God,     And  then, 


12  II.  CORINTHIANS  [ch.  vii. 

I 

there  is  another  kind  of  sorrow,  which  the  Apostle 
calls  the  *  sorrow  of  the  world,'  which  is  devoid  of  that 
reference  to  God.  Here  we  have  the  characteristic 
difference  between  the  Christian  way  of  looking  at 
our  own  faults  and  shortcomings,  and  the  sorrow  of 
the  world,  which  has  got  no  blessing  in  it,  and  will 
never  lead  to  anything  like  righteousness  and  peace. 
It  is  just  this — one  has  reference  to  God,  puts  its  sin 
by  His  side,  sees  its  blackness  relieved  against  the 
'fierce  light'  of  the  Great  "White  Throne,  and  the  other 
has  not  that  reference. 

To  expand  that  for  a  moment, — there  are  plenty  of 
as  who,  when  our  sin  is  behind  us,  and  its  bitter  fruits 
are  in  our  hands,  are  sorry  enough  for  our  faults.  A 
man  that  is  lying  in  the  hospital  a  wreck,  with  the 
sins  of  his  youth  gnawing  the  flesh  off  his  bones,  is 
often  enough  sorry  that  he  did  not  live  more  soberly 
and  chastely  and  temperately  in  the  past  days.  That 
fraudulent  bankrupt  who  has  not  got  his  discharge 
and  has  lost  his  reputation,  and  can  get  nobody  to 
lend  him  money  enough  to  start  him  in  business  again, 
as  he  hangs  about  the  streets,  slouching  in  his  rags,  is 
sorry  enough  that  he  did  not  keep  the  straight  road. 
The  *  sorrow  of  the  world '  has  no  thought  about  God 
in  it  at  all.  The  consequences  of  sin  set  many  a  man's 
teeth  on  edge  who  does  not  feel  any  compunction  for 
the  wrong  that  he  did.  My  brethren,  is  that  the 
position  of  any  that  are  listening  to  me  now  ? 

Again,  men  are  often  sorry  for  their  conduct  with- 
out thinking  of  it  as  sin  against  God.  Crime  means 
the  transgression  of  man's  law,  wrong  means  the 
transgression  of  conscience's  law,  sin  is  the  trans- 
gression of  God's  law.  Some  of  us  would  perhaps 
have  to  say — •  I  have  done  crime.'    We  are  all  of  us 


y.  10]   SORROW  ACCORDING  TO  GOD       13 

quite  ready  to  say:  •!  have  done  wrong  many  a 
time ' ;  but  there  are  some  of  us  who  hesitate  to  take 
the  other  step,  and  say :  •  I  have  done  sin.'  Sin 
has,  for  its  correlative,  God.  If  there  is  no  God 
there  is  no  sin.  There  may  be  faults,  there  may 
be  failures,  there  may  be  transgressions,  breaches  of 
the  moral  law,  things  done  inconsistent  with  man's 
nature  and  constitution,  and  so  on ;  but  if  there  be  a 
God,  then  we  have  personal  relations  to  that  Person 
and  His  law ;  and  when  we  break  His  law  it  is  more 
than  crime;  it  is  more  than  fault;  it  is  more  than 
transgression  ;  it  is  more  than  wrong ;  it  is  sin.  It  is 
when  you  lift  the  shutter  off  conscience,  and  let  the 
light  of  God  rush  in  upon  your  hearts  and  consciences, 
that  you  have  the  wholesome  sorrow  that  worketh 
repentance  and  salvation  and  life. 

Oh,  dear  friends,  I  do  beseech  you  to  lay  these 
simple  thoughts  to  heart.  Remember,  I  urge  no  rigid 
uniformity  of  experience  or  character,  but  I  do  say 
that  unless  a  man  has  learned  to  see  his  sin  in  the 
light  of  God,  arid  in  the  light  of  God  to  weep  over  it,  he 
has  yet  to  know  '  the  strait  gate  that  leadeth  unto  life.' 

I  believe  that  a  very  large  amoant  of  the  super- 
ficiality and  easy-goingness  of  the  Christianity  of  to- 
day comes  just  from  this,  that  so  many  who  call 
themselves  Christians  have  never  once  got  a  glimpse 
of  themselves  as  they  really  are.  I  remember  once 
peering  over  the  edge  of  the  crater  of  Vesuvius,  and 
looking  down  into  the  pit,  all  swirling  with  sulphurous 
fumes.  Have  you  ever  looked  into  your  hearts,  in 
that  fashion,  and  seen  the  wreathing  smoke  and  the 
flashing  fire  there?  If  you  have,  you  will  cleave  to 
that  Christ,  who  is  your  sole  deliverance  from  sin. 

But,  remember,  there  is  no  prescription  about  depth 


14  II.  CORINTHIANS  [ch.vii. 

or  amount  or  length  of  time  during  whicli  this  sorrow 
shall  be  felt.  If,  on  the  one  hand,  it  is  essential,  on 
the  other  hand  there  are  a  great  many  people  who 
ought  to  be  walking  in  the  light  and  the  liberty  of 
God's  Gospel  who  bring  darkness  and  clouds  over 
themselves  by  the  anxious  scrutinising  question:  *Is 
my  sorrow  deep  enough?'  Deep  enough!  What  for? 
What  is  the  use  of  sorrow  for  sin  ?  To  lead  a  man  to 
repentance  and  to  faith.  If  you  have  as  much  sorrow 
as  leads  you  to  penitence  and  trust  you  have  enough. 
It  is  not  your  sorrow  that  is  going  to  wash  away  your 
sin,  it  is  Christ's  blood.  So  let  no  man  trouble  himself 
about  the  question,  Have  I  sorrow  enough  ?  The  one 
question  is :  *  Has  my  sorrow  led  me  to  cast  myself  on 
Christ?' 

II.  Still  further,  look  now  for  a  moment  at  the  next 
stage  here.     '  Godly  sorrow  worketh  repentance.* 

What  is  repentance  ?  No  doubt  many  of  you  would 
answer  that  it  is  '  sorrow  for  sin,'  but  clearly  this  text 
of  ours  draws  a  distinction  between  the  two.  There 
are  very  few  of  the  great  key-words  of  Christianity 
that  have  suffered  more  violent  and  unkind  treat- 
ment, and  have  been  more  obscured  by  misunder- 
standings, than  this  great  word.  It  has  been  weakened 
down  into  penitence,  which  in  the  ordinary  accepta- 
tion, means  simply  the  emotion  that  I  have  already 
been  speaking  about,  viz.,  a  regretful  sense  of  my  own 
evil.  And  it  has  been  still  further  docked  and 
degraded,  both  in  its  syllables  and  in  its  substance, 
into  penance.  But  the  'repentance'  of  the  New 
Testament  and  of  the  Old  Testament — one  of  the  twin 
conditions  of  salvation — is  neither  sorrow  for  sin  nor 
works  of  restitution  and  satisfaction,  but  it  is,  as  the 
word  distinctly    expresses,  a    change    of   purpose  in 


T.IO]  SORROW  ACCORDING  TO  GOD      15 

regard  to  the  sin  for  which  a  man  mourns.  I  cannot 
now  expand  and  elaborate  this  idea  as  I  should 
like,  but  let  me  remind  you  of  one  or  two  passages  in 
Scripture  which  may  show  that  the  right  notion  of  the 
word  is  not  sorrow  but  changed  attitude  and  purpose 
in  regard  to  my  sin. 

We  find  passages,  some  of  which  ascribe  and  some 
deny  repentance  to  the  Divine  nature.  But  if  there  be 
a  repentance  which  is  possible  for  the  Divine  nature, 
it  obviously  cannot  mean  sorrow  for  sin,  but  must 
signify  a  change  of  purpose.  In  the  Epistle  to  the 
Romans  we  read,  'The  gifts  and  calling  of  God  are 
without  repentance,'  which  clearly  means  without 
change  of  purpose  on  His  part.  And  I  read  in  the 
story  of  the  mission  of  the  Prophet  Jonah,  that  '  the 
Lord  repented  of  the  evil  which  He  had  said  He  would 
do  unto  them,  and  He  did  it  not.'  Here,  again,  the 
idea  of  repentance  is  clearly  and  distinctly  that  of  a 
change  of  purpose.  So  fix  this  on  your  minds,  and  lay 
it  on  your  hearts,  dear  friends,  that  the  repentance  of 
the  New  Testament  is  not  idle  tears  nor  the  tvdtchings 
of  a  vain  regret,  but  the  resolute  turning  away  of  the 
sinful  heart  from  its  sins.  It  is  'repentance  toward 
God,'  the  turning  from  the  sin  to  the  Father,  and  that 
is  what  leads  to  salvation.  The  sorrow  is  separated 
from  the  repentance  in  idea,  however  closely  they  may 
be  intertwined  in  fact.  The  sorrow  is  one  thing,  and 
the  repentance  which  it  works  is  another. 

Then  notice  that  this  change  of  purpose  and  break- 
ing ofP  from  sin  is  produced  by  the  sorrow  for  sin,  of 
which  I  have  been  speaking  ;  and  that  the  production 
of  this  repentance  is  the  main  characteristic  difference 
between  the  godly  sorrow  and  the  sorrow  of  the 
world.    A  man  may  have  his  paroxysms  of  regret,  but 


16  II.  CORINTHIANS  [ch.vii. 

the  question  is :  Does  it  make  any  difference  in  hia 
attitude  ?  Is  he  standing,  after  the  tempest  of  sorrow 
has  swept  over  him,  with  his  face  in  the  same  direction 
as  before ;  or  has  it  whirled  him  clean  round,  and  set 
him  in  the  other  direction  ?  The  one  kind  of  sorrow, 
which  measures  my  sin  by  the  side  of  the  brightness 
and  purity  of  God,  vindicates  itself  as  true,  because  it 
makes  me  hate  my  evil  and  turn  away  from  it.  The 
other,  which  is  of  the  world,  passes  over  me  like  the 
empty  wind  through  an  archway,  it  whistles  for  a 
moment  and  is  gone,  and  there  is  nothing  left  to  show 
that  it  was  ever  there.  The  one  comes  like  one  of 
those  brooks  in  tropical  countries,  dry  and  white  for 
half  the  year,  and  then  there  is  a  rush  of  muddy 
waters,  fierce  but  transient,  and  leaving  no  results 
behind.  My  brother!  when  your  conscience  pricks, 
which  of  these  two  things  does  it  do?  After  the 
prick,  is  the  word  of  command  that  your  Will  issues 
'  Right  about  face ! '  or  is  it  '  As  you  were '  ?  Godly 
sorrow  worketh  a  change  of  attitude,  purpose,  mind  ; 
the  sorrow  of  the  world  leaves  a  man  standing  where 
he  was.  Ask  yourselves  the  question :  Which  of  the 
two  are  you  familiar  with  ? 

Again,  the  true  means  of  evoking  true  repentance  is 
the  contemplation  of  the  Cross.  Law  and  the  fear  of 
hell  may  startle  into  sorrow,  and  even  lead  to  some 
kind  of  repentance.  But  it  is  the  great  power  of 
Christ's  love  and  sacrifice  which  will  really  melt  the 
heart  into  true  repentance.  You  may  hammer  ice  to 
pieces,  but  it  is  ice  still.  You  may  bray  a  fool  in  a 
mortar,  and  his  folly  will  not  depart  from  him.  Dread 
of  punishment  may  pulverise  the  heart,  but  not  change 
it;  and  each  fragment,  like  the  smallest  bits  of  a 
magnet,  will  have    the    same  characteristics  as    the 


▼.10]  SORROW  ACCORDING  TO  GOD       17 

whole  mass.  But  'the  goodness  of  God  leads  to 
repentance,'  as  the  prodigal  is  conquered  and  sees  the 
true  hideousness  of  the  swine's  trough,  when  he 
bethinks  himself  of  the  father's  love.  I  beseech  you 
to  put  yourselves  under  the  influence  of  that  great 
love,  and  look  on  that  Cross  till  your  hearts  melt. 

III.  We  come  to  the  last  stage  here.     Salvation  is 
the  issue  of  repentance.     '  Godly  sorrow  worketh  re 
pentance  unto  salvation  not  to  be  repented  of.' 

What  is  the  connection  between  repentance  and 
salvation?  Two  sentences  will  answer  the  question. 
You  cannot  get  salvation  without  repentance.  You 
do  not  get  salvation  by  repentance. 

You  cannot  get  the  salvation  of  God  unless  you 
shake  off  your  sin.  It  is  no  use  preaching  to  a  man, 
'Faith,  Faith,  Faith!'  unless  you  preach  along  with 
it,  '  Break  off  your  iniquities.'  *  Let  the  wicked  forsake 
his  way  and  the  unrighteous  man  his  thoughts,  and 
let  him  turn  unto  the  Lord.'  The  nature  of  the  case 
forbids  it.  It  is  a  clear  contradiction  in  terms,  and  an 
absolute  impossibility  in  fact,  that  God  should  save  a 
man  with  the  salvation  which  consists  in  the  deliverance 
from  sin,  whilst  that  man  is  holding  to  his  sin.  Unless, 
therefore,  you  have  not  merely  sorrow,  but  repent- 
ance, which  is  turning  away  from  sin  with  resolute 
purpose,  as  a  man  would  turn  from  a  serpent,  you 
cannot  enter  into  the  Kingdom  of  Heaven. 

But  you  do  not  get  salvation  for  your  repentance. 
It  is  no  case  of  barter,  it  is  no  case  of  salvation  by 
works,  that  work  being  repentance : 

*  Could  my  zeal  no  respite  know. 
Could  my  tears  for  ever  flow. 
All  for  sin  could  not  atone, 
Thou  must  save,  and  Thou  alone.' 
B 


18  II.  CORINTHIANS  [ch.  vii. 

Not  my  penitence,  but  Christ's  death,  is  the  ground  of 
the  salvation  of  every  one  that  is  saved  at  all.  Yet 
repentance  is  an  indispensable  condition  of  salvation. 

What  is  the  connection  between  repentance  and 
faith  ?  There  can  be  no  true  repentance  without  trust 
in  Christ.  There  can  be  no  true  trust  in  Christ  without 
the  forsaking  of  my  sin.  Repentance  without  faith, 
in  so  far  as  it  is  possible,  is  one  long  misery ;  like  the 
pains  of  those  poor  Hindoo  devotees  that  will  go  all 
the  way  from  Cape  Comorin  to  the  shrine  of  Jugger- 
naut, and  measure  every  foot  of  the  road  with  the 
length  of  their  own  bodies  in  the  dust.  Men  will  do 
anything,  and  willingly  make  any  sacrifice,  rather 
than  open  their  eyes  to  see  this,  —  that  repentance; 
clasped  hand  in  hand  with  Faith,  leads  the  guiltiest 
soul  into  the  forgiving  presence  of  the  crucified  Christ, 
from  whom  peace  flows  into  the  darkest  heart. 

On  the  other  hand,  faith  without  repentance  is  not 
possible,  in  any  deep  sense.  But  in  so  far  as  it  is 
possible,  it  produces  a  superficial  Christianity  which 
vaguely  trusts  to  Christ  without  knowing  exactly 
what  it  is  trusting  Him  for,  or  why  it  needs  Him ;  and 
which  has  a  great  deal  to  say  about  what  I  may  call 
the  less  important  parts  of  the  Christian  system,  and 
nothing  to  say  about  its  vital  centre ;  which  preaches 
a  morality  which  is  not  a  living  power  to  create; 
which  practises  a  religion  which  is  neither  a  joy  nor  a 
security.  The  old  word  of  the  Master  has  a  deep  truth 
in  it :  *  These  are  they  which  heard  the  word,  and  anon 
with  joy  received  it.'  Having  no  sorrow,  no  penitence, 
no  deep  consciousness  of  sin,  'they  have  no  root  in 
themselves,  and  in  time  of  temptation  they  fall  away.' 
If  there  is  to  be  a  profound,  an  all-pervading,  life- 
transforming-sin,  and  devil-conquering  faith,  it  must 


T.IO]  SORROW  ACCORDING  TO  GOD      19 

be  a  faith  rooted  deep  in  penitence  and  sorrow  for 
sin. 

Dear  brethren,  if,  by  God's  grace,  my  poor  words 
have  touched  your  consciences  at  all,  I  beseech  you,  do 
not  trifle  with  the  budding  conviction !  Do  not  seek 
to  have  the  wound  skinned  over.  Take  care  that  you 
do  not  let  it  all  pass  in  idle  sorrow  or  impotent  regret. 
If  you  do,  you  will  be  hardened,  and  the  worse  for  it, 
and  come  nearer  to  that  condition  which  the  sorrow  of 
the  world  worketh,  the  awful  death  of  the  soul.  Do 
not  wince  from  the  knife  before  the  roots  of  the 
cancer  are  cut  out.  The  pain  is  merciful.  Better  the 
wound  than  the  malignant  growth.  Yield  yourselves 
to  the  Spirit  that  would  convince  you  of  sin,  and 
listen  to  the  voice  that  calls  to  you  to  forsake  your 
unrighteous  ways  and  thoughts.  But  do  not  trust  to 
any  tears,  do  not  trust  to  any  resolves,  do  not  trust 
to  any  reformation.  Trust  only  to  the  Lord  who  died 
on  the  Cross  for  you,  whose  death  for  you,  whose 
life  in  you,  will  be  deliverance  from  your  sin.  Then 
you  will  have  a  salvation  which,  in  the  striking 
language  of  my  text, '  is  not  to  be  repented  of,'  which 
will  leave  no  regrets  in  your  hearts  in  the  day  when 
all  else  shall  have  faded,  and  the  sinful  sweets  of  this 
world  shall  have  turned  to  ashes  and  bitterness  on  the 
lips  of  the  men  that  feed  on  them. 

•  The  sorrow  of  the  world  works  death.*  There  are 
men  and  women  listening  to  me  now  who  are  half 
conscious  of  their  sin,  and  are  resisting  the  pleading 
voice  that  comes  to  them,  who  at  the  last  will  open 
their  eyes  upon  the  realities  of  their  lives,  and  in  a 
wild  passion  of  remorse,  exclaim :  *  I  have  played  the 
fool,  and  have  erred  exceedingly.'  Better  to  make 
thorough  work  of  the  sorrow,  and  by  it  to  be  led  to 


20  II.  CORINTHIANS  [ch.  viii. 

repentance  toward  God  and  faith  in  Christ,  and  so 
secure  for  our  own  that  salvation  for  which  no  man 
will  ever  regret  having  given  even  the  whole  world, 
since  he  gains  his  own  soul. 


GIVING  AND  ASKING 

'Moreover,  brethren,  we  do  you  to  wit  of  the  grace  of  God  bestowed  on  the 
churches  of  Macedonia ;  2.  How  that  in  a  great  trial  of  affliction  the  abundance 
of  their  joy  and  their  deep  poverty  abounded  unto  the  riches  of  their  liberality. 
3.  For  to  their  power,  I  bear  record,  yea,  and  beyond  their  power  they  were 
willing  of  themselves  ;  4.  Praying  us  with  much  entreaty  that  we  would  receive 
the  gift,  and  take  upon  us  the  fellowship  of  the  ministering  to  the  saints.  5.  And 
this  they  did,  not  as  we  hoped,  but  first  gave  their  own  selves  to  the  Lord,  and 
unto  us  by  the  will  of  God :  6.  Insomuch  that  we  desired  Titus,  that  as  he  had 
begun,  so  he  would  also  finish  in  you  the  same  grace  also.  7.  Therefore,  as  ye 
abound  in  every  thing,  in  faith,  and  utterance,  and  knowledge,  and  in  all  diligence, 
and  in  your  love  to  us ;  see  that  ye  abound  in  this  grace  also.  8.  I  speak  not  by 
commandment,  but  by  occasion  of  the  forwardness  of  others,  and  to  prove  the 
sincerity  of  your  love.  9.  For  ye  know  the  grace  of  our  Lord  Jesua  Christ,  that, 
though  He  was  rich,  yet  for  your  sakes  He  became  poor,  that  ye  through  His 
poverty  might  be  rich.  10.  And  herein  I  give  my  advice :  for  this  is  expedient  for 
you,  who  have  begun  before,  not  only  to  do,  but  also  to  be  forward  a  year  ago. 
il.  Now  therefore  perform  the  doing  of  it ;  that  as  there  was  a  readiness  to  will,  so 
there  may  be  a  performance  also  out  of  that  which  ye  have.  12.  For  if  there  be 
first  a  willing  mind,  it  is  accepted  according  to  that  a  man  hath,  and  not  according 
to  that  he  hath  not.'— 2  Cor.  viii.  1-12. 

A  COLLECTION  from  Gentile  churches  for  their  poor 
brethren  in  Jerusalem  occupied  much  of  Paul's  time 
and  efforts  before  his  last  visit  to  that  city.  Many 
events,  which  have  filled  the  world  with  noise  and 
been  vsrritten  at  length  in  histories,  were  less  signifi- 
cant than  that  first  outcome  of  the  unifying  spirit  of 
common  faith.  It  was  a  making  visible  of  the  grand 
thought,  'Ye  are  all  one  in  Christ  Jesus.'  Practical 
help,  prompted  by  a  deep-lying  sense  of  unity  which 
overleaped  gulfs  of  separation  in  race,  language,  and 
social  conditions,  was  a  unique  novelty.  It  was  the 
first  pulsation  of  that  spirit  of  Christian  liberality  which 
has  steadily  grown  in  force  and  sweep  ever  since. 
Foolish  people  gibe   at   some  of   its   manifestations. 


rs.  1-13]         GIVING  AND  ASKING  21 

Wiser  ones  regard  its  existence  as  not  the  least  of  the 
marks  of  the  divine  origin  of  Christianity. 

This  passage  is  a  striking  example  of  the  inimitable 
delicacy  of  the  Apostle.  His  words  are  full  of  what  we 
should  call  tact,  if  it  were  not  manifestly  the  spon- 
taneous utterance  of  right  feeling.  They  are  a  perfect 
model  of  the  true  way  to  appeal  for  money,  and  set 
forth  also  the  true  spirit  in  which  such  appeals  should 
be  made. 

In  yerses  1  to  5,  Paul  seeks  to  stimulate  the  liberality 
of  the  Corinthians  by  recounting  that  of  the  Macedonian 
churches.  His  sketch  draws  in  outline  the  picture  of 
what  all  Christian  money-giving  should  be.  We  note 
first  the  designation  of  the  Macedonian  Christians' 
beneficence  as  *a  grace'  given  by  God  to  them.  It 
is  twice  called  so  (vers.  1,  4),  and  the  same  name  is 
applied  in  regard  to  the  Corinthians'  giving  (vers.  6,  7). 
That  is  the  right  way  to  look  at  money  contributions. 
The  opportunity  to  give  them,  and  the  inclination  to 
do  so,  are  God's  gifts.  How  many  of  us  think  that 
calls  for  service  or  money  are  troublesome  obligations, 
to  be  got  out  of  as  easily  as  possible  !  A  true  Christian 
will  be  thankful,  as  for  a  love  token  from  God,  for 
every  occasion  of  giving  to  Him.  It  would  be  a  sharp 
test  for  many  of  u«  to  ask  ourselves  whether  we  can 
say, '  To  me  ...  is  this  grace  given,'  that  I  should  part 
with  my  money  for  Christ's  sake. 

Note,  further,  the  lovely  picture  of  these  Macedonian 
givers.  They  were  plunged  in  sorrows  and  troubles, 
but  these  did  not  dry  their  fountains  of  sympathy. 
Nothing  is  apt  to  be  more  selfish  than  grief ;  and  if  we 
have  tears  to  spare  for  others,  when  they  are  flowing 
bitterly  for  ourselves,  we  have  graduated  well  in 
Christ's  school.    Paul  calls  the  Macedonians'  troubles 


22  II.  CORINTHIANS  [ch.  viii. 

'  proof  of  their  affliction/  meaning  that  it  constituted  a 
proof  of  their  Christian  character;  that  is,  by  the 
manner  in  which  it  was  borne ;  and  in  it  they  had  still 
'abundance  of  joy,'  for  the  paradox  of  the  Christian 
life  is  that  it  admits  of  the  co-existence  of  grief  and 
gladness. 

Again,  Christian  giving  gives  from  scanty  stores. 
•Deep  poverty '  is  no  excuse  for  not  giving,  and  w^ill  be 
no  hindrance  to  a  willing  heart.  '  I  cannot  afford  it '  is 
sometimes  a  genuine  valid  reason,  but  oftener  an  in- 
sincere plea.  Why  are  subscriptions  for  religious 
purposes  the  first  expenditure  to  be  reduced  in  bad 
times  ? 

Further,  Christian  giving  gives  up  to  the  very  edge 
of  ability,  and  sometimes  goes  beyond  the  limits  of  so- 
called  prudence.  In  all  regions  'power  to  its  last 
particle  is  duty,'  and  unless  power  is  strained  it  is  not 
fully  exercised.  It  is  in  trying  to  do  what  we  cannot  do 
that  we  do  best  what  we  can  do.  He  who  keeps  well 
within  the  limits  of  his  supposed  ability  will  probably 
not  do  half  as  much  as  he  could.  While  there  is  a 
limit  behind  which  generosity  even  for  Christ  may 
become  dishonesty  or  disregard  of  other  equally  sacred 
claims,  there  is  little  danger  of  modern  Christians 
transgressing  that  limit,  and  they  need  the  stimulus  to 
do  a  little  more  than  they  think  they  can  do,  rather 
than  to  listen  to  cold-blooded  prudence. 

Further,  Christian  giving  does  not  wait  to  be  asked, 
but  takes  the  opportunity  to  give  as  itself  *  grace,'  and 
presses  its  benefactions.  It  is  an  unwonted  experience 
for  a  collector  of  subscriptions  to  be  besought  to 
take  them  'with  much  entreaty,'  but  it  would  not 
be  so  anomalous  if  Christian  people  understood  their 
privileges. 


T8.1-12]         GIVING  AND  ASKING  23 

Further,  Christian  giving  begins  with  the  surrender 
of  self  to  Christ,  from  which  necessarily  follows  the 
glad  offering  of  wealth.  These  Macedonians  did  more 
than  Paul  had  hoped,  and  the  explanation  of  the  un- 
expected largeness  of  their  contributions  was  their 
yielding  of  themselves  to  Jesus.  That  is  the  deepest 
source  of  all  true  liberality.  If  a  man  feels  that  he 
does  not  own  himself,  much  less  will  he  feel  that  his 
goods  are  his  own.  A  slave's  owner  possesses  the 
slave's  bit  of  garden  ground,  his  hut,  and  its  furniture. 
If  I  belong  to  Christ,  to  whom  does  my  money  belong  ? 
But  the  consciousness  that  my  goods  are  not  mine,  but 
Christ's,  is  not  to  remain  a  mere  sentiment.  It  can 
receive  practical  embodiment  by  my  giving  them  to 
Christ's  representatives.  The  way  for  the  Macedonians 
to  show  that  they  regarded  their  goods  as  Christ's,  was 
to  give  them  to  Paul  for  Christ's  poor  saints.  Jesus 
has  His  representatives  still,  and  it  is  useless  for  people 
to  talk  or  sing  about  belonging  to  Him,  unless  they 
verify  their  words  by  deeds. 

Verse  6  tells  the  Corinthians  that  the  success  of  the 
collection  in  Macedonia  had  induced  Paul  to  send  Titus 
to  Corinth  to  promote  it  there.  He  had  previously 
visited  it  on  the  same  errand  (chap.  xii.  14),  and  now  is 
coming  to  complete  '  this  grace.'  The  rest  of  the 
passage  is  Paul's  appeal  to  the  Corinthians  for  their 
help  in  the  matter,  and  certainly  never  was  such  an 
appeal  made  in  a  more  dignified,  noble,  and  lofty  tone. 
He  has  been  dilating  on  the  liberality  of  others,  and 
thereby  sanctioning  the  stimulating  of  Christian  liber- 
ality, in  the  same  way  as  other  graces  may  legitimately 
be  stimulated,  by  example.  That  is  delicate  ground  to 
tread  on,  and  needs  caution  if  it  is  not  to  degenerate 
into  an  appeal  to  rivalry,  as  it  too  often  does,  but  in 


24  II.  CORINTHIANS  [ch.viii. 

itself  18  perfectly  legitimate  and  wholesoine.  But, 
passing  from  that  incitement,  Paul  rests  his  plea  on 
deeper  grounds. 

First,  Christian  liberality  is  essential  to  the  complete- 
ness of  Christian  character.  Paul's  praise  in  verse  7  is 
not  mere  flattery,  nor  meant  to  put  the  Corinthians 
into  good  humour.  He  will  have  enough  to  say  here- 
after about  scandals  and  faults,  but  now  he  gives  them 
credit  for  all  the  good  he  knew  to  be  in  them.  Faith 
comes  first,  as  always.  It  is  the  root  of  every  Chris- 
tian excellence.  Then  follow  two  graces,  eminently 
characteristic  of  a  Greek  church,  and  apt  to  run  to  seed 
in  it, — utterance  and  knowledge.  Then  two  more,  both 
of  a  more  emotional  character, — earnestness  and  love, 
especially  to  Paul  as  Christ's  servant.  But  all  these 
fair  attributes  lacked  completeness  without  the  crown- 
ing grace  of  liberality.  It  is  the  crowning  grace, 
because  it  is  the  practical  manifestation  of  the  highest 
excellences.  It  is  the  result  of  sympathy,  of  unselfish- 
ness, of  contact  with  Christ,  of  drinking  in  of  His  spirit. 
Love  is  best.  Utterance  and  knowledge  and  earnest- 
ness are  poor  beside  it.  This  grace  is  like  the  diamond 
which  clasps  a  necklace  of  jewels. 

Christian  giving  does  not  need  to  be  commanded.  •  I 
speak  not  by  way  of  commandment.'  That  is  poor 
virtue  which  only  obeys  a  precept.  Gifts  given  because 
it  is  duty  to  give  them  are  not  really  gifts,  but  taxes. 
They  leave  no  sweet  savour  on  the  hand  that  bestows, 
and  bring  none  to  that  which  receives.  *  I  call  you  not 
servants,  but  friends.'  The  region  in  which  Christian 
liberality  moves  is  high  above  the  realm  of  law  and  its 
correlative,  obligation. 

Further,  Christian  liberality  springs  spontaneously 
from  conscious  possession  of  Christ's  riches.    We  can- 


Ti.1-12]         GIVING  AND  ASKING  25 

not  here  enter  on  the  mysteries  of  Christ's  emptying 
Himself  of  His  riches  of  glory.  We  can  but  touch  the 
stupendous  fact,  remembering  that  the  place  whereon 
we  stand  is  holy  ground.  Who  can  measure  the  nature 
and  depth  of  that  self- denuding  of  the  glory  which  He 
had  with  the  Father  before  the  world  was  ?  But,  thank 
God,  we  do  not  need  to  measure  it,  in  order  to  feel  the 
solemn,  blessed  force  of  the  appeal  which  it  makes  to 
us.  Adoring  wonder  and  gratitude,  unfaltering  trust 
and  absolute  self-surrender  to  a  love  so  self-sacrificing, 
must  ever  follow  the  belief  of  that  mystery  of  Divine 
mercy,  the  incarnation  and  sacrifice  of  the  eternal  Son. 

But  Paul  would  have  us  remember  that  the  same 
mighty  act  of  stooping  love,  which  is  the  foundation  of 
all  our  hope,  is  to  be  the  pattern  for  all  our  conduct. 
Even  in  His  divinest  and  most  mysterious  act,  Christ  is 
our  example.  A  dewdrop  is  rounded  by  the  same  laws 
which  shape  the  planetary  spheres  or  the  sun  himself ; 
and  Christians  but  half  trust  Christ  if  they  do  not 
imitate  Him.  What  selfishness  in  enjoyment  of  our 
*  own  things '  could  live  in  us  if  we  duly  brought  our- 
selves under  the  influence  of  that  example?  How 
miserably  poor  and  vulgar  the  appeals  by  which  money 
is  sometimes  drawn  from  grudging  owners  and  tight- 
buttoned  pockets,  sound  beside  that  heart-searching 
and  heart-moving  one,  *  Ye  know  the  grace  of  our  Lord 
Jesus  Christ ! ' 

Further,  Christian  liberality  will  not  go  off  in  good 
intentions  and  benevolent  sentiments.  The  Corinthians 
were  ready  with  their  •  willing '  on  Titus's  previous 
visit.  Now  Paul  desires  them  to  put  their  good  feelings 
into  concrete  shape.  There  is  plenty  of  benevolence 
that  never  gets  to  be  beneficence.  The  advice  here  has 
a  very  wide  application :  *  As  there  was  the  readiness 


26  II.  CORINTHIANS  [ch.viii. 

to  will,  so  there  may  be  the  completion  also.'  We  all 
know  where  the  road  leads  that  is  paved  with  good 
intentions. 

Further,  Christian  liberality  is  accepted  and  rewarded 
according  to  willingness,  if  that  is  carried  into  act 
according  to  ability.  While  the  mere  wish  to  help  is 
not  enough,  it  is  the  vital  element  in  the  act  which 
flows  from  it ;  and  there  may  be  more  of  it  in  the 
widow's  mite  than  in  the  rich  man's  large  donation  — 
or  there  may  be  less.  The  conditions  of  acceptable 
offerings  are  twofold — first,  readiness,  glad  willing- 
ness to  give,  as  opposed  to  closed  hearts  or  grudging 
bestowals  ;  and,  second,  that  willingness  embodied  in 
the  largest  gift  possible.  The  absence  of  either  vitiates 
all.  The  presence  of  both  gives  trifles  a  place  in  God's 
storehouse  of  precious  things.  A  father  is  glad  when 
his  child  brings  him  some  utterly  valueless  present, 
not  because  he  must,  but  because  he  loves ;  and  many 
a  parent  has  such  laid  away  in  sacred  repositories. 
God  knows  how  to  take  gifts  from  His  children,  not  less 
well  than  we  who  are  evil  know  how  to  do  it. 

But  the  gracious  saying  of  our  passage  has  a  solemn 
side;  for  if  only  gifts  'according  as  a  man  hath'  are 
accepted,  what  becomes  of  the  many  which  fall  far 
short  of  our  ability,  and  are  really  given,  not  because 
we  have  the  willing  mind,  but  because  we  could  not  get 
out  of  the  unwelcome  necessity  to  part  with  a  miserably 
inadequate  percentage  of  our  possessions.  Is  God 
likely  to  be  satisfied  with  the  small  dividends  which  we 
offer  as  composition  for  our  great  debt  ? 


RICH  YET  POOR 

'  For  ye  know  the  grace  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  that,  though  He  was  rich 
yet  for  your  sakes  He  became  poor,  that  ye  through  His  poverty  might  be  rich.'— 
2  Cor,  viii.  9. 

The  Apostle  has  been  speaking  about  a  matter  which, 
to  us,  seems  very  small,  but  to  him  was  very  great, 
viz.,  a  gathering  of  pecuniary  help  from  the  Gentile 
churches  for  the  poor  church  in  Jerusalem.  Large 
issues,  in  his  estimation,  attended  that  exhibition  of 
Christian  unity,  and,  be  it  great  or  small,  he  applies  the 
highest  of  all  motives  to  this  matter.  '  For  ye  know 
the  grace  of  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  that  though  He  was 
rich  yet  for  your  sakes  He  became  poor.'  The  trivial 
things  of  life  are  to  be  guided  and  shaped  by  reference 
to  the  highest  of  all  things,  the  example  of  Jesus 
Christ ;  and  that  in  the  whole  depth  of  His  humilia- 
tion, and  even  in  regard  to  His  cross  and  passion.  We 
have  here  set  forth,  as  the  pattern  to  which  the 
Christian  life  is  to  be  conformed,  the  deepest  conception 
of  what  our  Lord's  career  on  earth  was. 

The  whole  Christian  Church  is  about  to  celebrate  the 
nativity  of  our  Lord  at  this  time.  This  text  gives  us 
the  true  point  of  view  from  which  to  regard  it.  We 
have  here  the  work  of  Christ  in  its  deepest  motive, 
*  The  grace  of  our  Lord  Jesus.'  We  have  it  in  its  tran- 
scendent self -impoverishment,  'Though  He  was  rich, 
yet  for  our  sakes  He  became  poor.'  We  have  it  in  its 
highest  issue,  'That  ye  through  His  poverty  might 
become  rich.'    Let  us  look  at  those  points. 

I.  Here  we  have  the  deepest  motive  which  underlies 
the  whole  work  of  Christ,  unveiled  to  us. 

V 


28  II.  CORINTHIANS  [ch.  vra. 

•Ye  know  the  grace  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ.' 
Every  word  here  is  significant.  It  is  very  unusual  in 
the  New  Testament  to  find  that  expression  'grace' 
applied  to  Jesus  Christ.  Except  in  the  familiar  benedic- 
tion, I  think  there  are  only  one  or  two  instances  of  such 
a  collocation  of  words.  It  is  •  the  grace  of  God '  which, 
throughout  the  New  Testament,  is  the  prevailing  ex- 
pression. But  here  'grace  is  attributed  to  Jesus'; 
that  is  to  say,  the  love  of  the  Divine  heart  ii,  without 
qualification  or  hesitation,  ascribed  to  Him.  And  what 
de  we  mean  by  grace  ?  We  mean  love  in  exercise  to 
inferiors.  It  is  infinite  condescension  in  Jesus  to  love. 
His  love  stoops  when  it  embraces  us.  Very  significant, 
therefore,  is  the  employment  here  of  the  solemn  full 
title, '  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,'  which  enhances  the  con- 
descension by  making  prominent  the  height  from 
which  it  bent.  The  '  grace '  is  all  the  more  wonderful 
because  of  the  majesty  and  sovereignty,  to  say  the 
least  of  it,  which  are  expressed  in  that  title,  the  Lord. 
The  highest  stoops  and  stands  upon  the  level  of  the 
lowest.  *  Grace '  is  love  that  expresses  itself  to  those 
who  deserve  something  else.  And  the  deepest  motive, 
which  is  the  very  key  to  the  whole  phenomena  of  the 
life  of  Jesus  Christ,  is  that  it  is  all  the  exhibition,  as  it 
is  the  consequence,  of  a  love  that,  stooping,  forgives. 
•  Grace '  is  love  that,  stooping  and  forgiving,  communi- 
cates its  whole  self  to  unworthy  and  transgressing 
recipients.  And  the  key  to  the  life  of  Jesus  is  that 
we  have  set  forth  in  its  operation  a  love  which  is 
not  content  to  speak  only  the  ordinary  language  of 
human  affection,  or  to  do  its  ordinary  deeds,  but  is 
self -impelled  to  impart  what  transcends  all  other  gifts 
of  human  tenderness,  and  to  give  its  very  self.  And 
so  a  love  that  condescends,  a  love  that  passes  by  un- 


r.9]  RICH  YET  POOR  29 

worthiness,  is  turned  away  by  no  sin,  is  unmoved  to 
any  kind  of  anger,  and  never  allows  its  cheek  to  flush 
or  its  heart  to  beat  faster,  because  of  any  provocation 
and  a  love  that  is  content  with  nothing  short  of  entire 
surrender  and  self-impartation  underlies  all  that 
precious  life  from  Bethlehem  to  Calvary. 

But  there  is  another  word  in  our  text  that  may  well 
be  here  taken  into  consideration.  'For  your  sakes,' 
says  the  Apostle  to  that  Corinthian  church,  made  up 
of  people,  not  one  of  whom  had  ever  seen  or  been  seen 
by  Jesus.  And  yet  the  regard  to  them  was  part  of  the 
motive  that  moved  the  Lord  to  His  life,  and  His  death. 
That  is  to  say,  to  generalise  the  thought,  this  grace, 
thus  stooping  and  forgiving  and  self-imparting,  is  a 
love  that  gathers  into  its  embrace  and  to  its  heart  all 
mankind ;  and  is  universal  because  it  is  individualising. 
Just  as  each  planet  in  the  heavens,  and  each  tiny 
plant  upon  the  earth,  are  embraced  by,  and  separately 
receive,  the  benediction  of  that  all-encompassing  arch 
of  the  heaven,  so  that  grace  enfolds  all,  because  it  takes 
account  of  each.  Whilst  it  is  love  for  a  sinful  world, 
every  soul  of  us  may  say  :  '  He  loved  me,  and ' — there- 
fore— 'gave  Himself  for  me.*  Unless  we  see  beneath 
the  sweet  story  of  the  earthly  life  this  deep-lying 
source  of  it  all,  we  fail  to  understand  that  life  itself. 
We  may  bring  criticism  to  bear  upon  it ;  we  may  appre- 
hend it  in  diverse  affecting,  elevating,  educating 
aspects  ;  but,  oh  !  brethren,  we  miss  the  blazing  centre 
of  the  light,  the  warm  heart  of  the  fire,  unless  we  see 
pulsating  through  all  the  individual  facts  of  the  life 
this  one,  all- shaping,  all- vitalising  motive ;  the  grace — 
the  stooping,  the  pardoning,  the  self-communicating, 
the  individualising,  and  the  universal  love  of  Jesus 
Christ' 


30  II.  CORINTHIANS  [ch.  viii. 

So  then,  we  have  here  set  before  us  the  work  of 
Christ  in  its — 

II.  Most  mysterious  and  unique  self -impoverishment. 

'  He  was  .  .  .  He  became,'  there  is  one  strange  con- 
trast. '  He  was  rich  .  .  .  He  became  poor,'  there  is 
another.  *  He  was  .  .  .  He  became.'  What  does  that 
say?  Well,  it  says  that  if  you  want  to  understand  Beth- 
lehem, you  must  go  back  to  a  time  before  Bethlehem. 
The  meaning  of  Christ's  birth  is  only  understood  when 
we  turn  to  that  Evangelist  who  does  not  narrate  it. 
For  the  meaning  of  it  is  here ;  '  the  Word  became 
flesh,  and  dwelt  among  us.'  The  surface  of  the  fact  is 
the  smallest  part  of  the  fact.  They  say  that  there  is 
seven  times  as  much  of  an  iceberg  under  water  as 
there  is  above  the  surface.  And  the  deepest  and  most 
important  fact  about  the  nativity  of  our  Lord  is  that 
it  was  not  only  the  birth  of  an  Infant,  but  the  Incarna- 
tion of  the  Word.  '  He  was  .  .  .  He  became.'  We  have 
to  travel  back  and  recognise  that  that  life  did  not  begin 
in  the  manger.  We  have  to  travel  back  and  recognise 
the  mystery  of  godliness,  God  manifest  in  the  flesh. 

And  these  two  words  '  He  was  .  ,  .  He  became,'  imply 
another  thing,  and  that  is,  that  Jesus  Christ  who  died 
because  He  chose,  was  not  passive  in  His  being  born, 
but  as  at  the  end  of  His  earthly  life,  so  at  its  beginning 
exercised  His  volition,  and  was  born  because  He 
willed,  and  willed  because  of  'the  grace  of  our  Lord 
Jesus.' 

Now  in  this  connection  it  is  very  remarkable,  and 
well  worth  our  pondering,  that  throughout  the  whole 
of  the  Gospels,  when  Jesus  speaks  of  His  coming  into 
the  world.  He  never  uses  the  word  '  born '  but  once,  and 
that  was  before  the  Roman  governor,  who  would  not 
have   understood  or  cared  for  anything   further,  to 


7.9]  RICH  YET  POOR  81 

whom  He  did  say,  *  To  this  end  was  I  born.'  But  even 
when  speaking  to  him  His  consciousness  that  that  word 
did  not  express  the  whole  truth  was  so  strong  that  He 
could  not  help  adding — though  He  knew  that  the  hard 
Roman  procurator  would  pay  no  attention  to  the 
apparent  tautology — the  expression  which  more  truly 
corresponded  to  the  fact,  '  and  for  this  cause  came  I 
into  the  world.'  The  two  phrases  are  not  parallel. 
They  are  by  no  means  synonymous.  One  expresses  the 
outward  fact ;  the  other  expresses  that  which  underlay 
it.  '  To  this  end  was  I  born.'  Yes !  '  And  for  this 
cause  came  I.'  He  Himself  put  it  still  more  definitely 
when  He  said,  *  I  came  forth  from  the  Father,  and  am 
come  into  the  world.  Again,  I  leave  the  world  and  go 
unto  the  Father.'  So  the  two  extremities  of  the  earthly 
manifestation  are  neither  of  them  ends  ;  but  before  the 
one,  and  behind  the  other,  there  stretches  an  identity 
or  oneness  of  Being  and  condition.  The  one  as  the 
other,  the  birth  and  the  death,  may  be  regarded  as,  in 
deepest  reality,  not  only  what  He  passively  endured, 
but  what  He  actively  did.  He  was  born,  and  He  died, 
that  in  all  points  He  might  be  '  like  unto  His  brethren.' 
He  'came'  into  the  world,  and  He  'went'  to  the 
Father.  The  end  circled  round  to  the  beginning,  and 
in  both  He  acted  because  He  chose,  and  chose  because 
He  loved. 

So  much,  then,  lies  in  the  one  of  these  two  antitheses 
of  my  text ;  and  the  other  is  no  less  profound  and 
significant.  '  He  was  rich ;  He  became  poor.'  In  this 
connection  '  rich '  can  only  mean  possessed  of  the 
Divine  fulness  and  independence ;  and  '  poor  *  can  only 
mean  possessed  of  human  infirmity,  dependence,  and 
emptiness.  And  so  to  Jesus  of  Nazareth,  to  be  born 
was  impoverishment.    If  there  is  nothing  more  in  His 


82  11.  CORINTHIANS  [ch.  viii. 

birth  than  in  the  birth  of  each  of  us,  the  words  are 
grotesquely  inappropriate  to  the  facts  of  the  case. 
For  as  between  nothingness,  which  is  the  alternative, 
and  the  possession  of  conscious  being,  there  is  surely 
a  contrast  the  very  reverse  of  that  expressed  here. 
For  us,  to  be  born  is  to  be  endowed  with  capacities, 
with  the  wealth  of  intelligent,  responsible,  voluntary 
being ;  but  to  Jesus  Christ,  if  we  accept  the  New  Testa- 
ment teaching,  to  be  born  was  a  step,  an  infinite  step, 
downwards,  and  He,  alone  of  all  men,  might  have  been 
'ashamed  to  call  men  brethren.'  But  this  denudation 
of  Himself,  into  the  particulars  of  which  I  do  not  care 
to  enter  now,  was  the  result  of  that  stooping  grace 
which  '  counted  it  not  a  thing  to  be  clutched  hold  of,  to 
be  equal  with  God ;  but  He  made  Himself  of  no  reputa- 
tion, and  was  found  in  fashion  as  a  man,  and  became 
obedient  unto  death,  even  the  death  of  the  Cross.' 

And  so,  dear  friends,  we  know  the  measure  of  the 
stooping  love  of  Jesus  only  when  we  read  the  history 
by  the  light  of  this  thought,  that  'though  He  was 
rich '  with  all  the  fulness  of  that  eternal  Word  which 
was  '  in  the  beginning  with  God,'  '  He  became  poor,' 
with  the  poverty,  the  infirmity,  the  liability  to  tempta- 
tion, the  weakness,  that  attach  to  humanity;  'and 
was  found  in  all  points  like  unto  His  brethren,'  that 
He  might  be  able  to  help  and  succour  them  all. 

The  last  thing  here  is — 

III.  The  work  of  Christ  set  forth  in  its  highest 
issue. 

« That  we  through  His  poverty  might  become  rich. 
Of  course,  the  antithetical  expressions  must  be  taken 
to  be  used  in  the  same  sense,  and  with  the  same  width 
of  application,  in  both  of  the  clauses.  And  if  so,  just 
think  reverently,  wonderingly,  thankfully,  of  the  infinite 


T.9]  RICH  YET  POOR  88 

vista  of  glorious  possibility  that  is  open  to  us  here. 
Christ  was  rich  in  the  possession  of  that  Divine  glory 
which  He  had  with  the  Father  before  the  world  was. 
•  He  became  poor,'  in  assuming  the  weakness  of  the 
manhood  that  you  and  I  carry,  that  we,  in  the  human 
poverty  which  is  like  His  poverty,  may  become  rich 
with  wealth  that  is  like  His  riches,  and  that  as  He 
stooped  to  earth  veiling  the  Divine  with  the  human, 
we  may  rise  to  heaven,  clothing  the  human  with  the 
Divine. 

For  surely  there  is  nothing  more  plainly  taught  in 
Scripture,  and  I  am  bold  to  say  nothing  to  which  any 
deep  and  vital  Christian  experience  even  here  gives 
more  surely  an  anticipatory  confirmation,  than  the 
fact  that  Christ  became  like  unto  us,  that  each  of  us 
may  become  like  unto  Him.  The  divine  and  the 
human  natures  are  similar,  and  the  fact  of  the 
Incarnation,  on  the  one  hand,  and  of  man's  glorifica- 
tion by  possession  of  the  divine  nature  on  the  other, 
equally  rest  upon  that  fundamental  resemblance 
between  the  divine  nature  and  the  human  nature  which 
God  has  made  in  His  own  image.  If  that  which  in 
each  of  us  is  unlike  God  is  cleared  away,  as  it  can  be 
cleared  away,  through  faith  in  that  dear  Lord,  then  the 
likeness,  as  a  matter  of  course,  comes  into  force. 

The  law  of  all  elevation  is  that  whosoever  desires  to 
lift  must  stoop ;  and  the  end  of  all  stooping  is  to  lift 
the  lowly  to  the  place  from  which  the  love  hath  bent 
itself.  And  this  is  at  once  the  law  for  the  Incarnation 
of  the  Christ,  and  for  the  elevation  of  the  Christian.  *  We 
shall  be  like  Him  for  we  shall  see  Him  as  He  is.'  And 
the  great  love,  the  stooping,  forgiving,  self -communi- 
cating love,  doth  not  reach  its  ultimate  issue,  nor  effect 
fully  the  purposes  to  which  it  ever  is  tending,  unless  and 

O 


34  II.  CORINTHIANS  [ch.  vm. 

until  all  who  have  received  it  are  '  changed  from  glory 
to  glory  even  into  the  image  of  the  Lord.'  We  do  not 
understand  Jesus,  His  cradle,  or  His  Cross,  unless  on  the 
one  hand  we  see  in  them  His  emptying  Himself  that  He 
might  fill  us,  and,  on  the  other  hand,  see,  as  the  only 
result  which  warrants  them  and  satisfies  Him,  our 
complete  conformity  to  His  image,  and  our  participa- 
tion in  that  glory  which  He  has  at  the  right  hand  of 
God.  That  is  the  prospect  for  humanity,  and  it  is 
possible  for  each  of  us. 

I  do  not  dwell  upon  other  aspects  of  this  great  self- 
emptying  of  our  Lord's,  such  as  the  revelation  in  it  to 
us  of  the  very  heart  of  God,  and  of  the  divinest  thing 
in  the  divine  nature,  which  is  love,  or  such  as  the  sym- 
pathy which  is  made  possible  thereby  to  Him,  and 
which  is  not  only  the  pity  of  a  God,  but  the  compassion 
of  a  Brother.  Nor  do  I  touch  upon  many  other  aspects 
which  are  full  of  strengthening  and  teaching.  That 
grand  thought  that  Jesus  has  shared  our  human 
poverty  that  we  may  share  His  divine  riches  is  the  very 
apex  of  the  New  Testament  teaching,  and  of  the 
Christian  hope.  We  have  within  us,  notwithstanding 
all  our  transgressions,  what  the  old  divines  used  to 
call  a  '  deiform  nature,'  capable  of  being  lifted  up  into 
the  participation  of  divinity,  capable  of  being  cleansed 
from  all  the  spots  and  stains  which  make  us  so  unlike 
Him  in  whose  likeness  we  were  made. 

Brethren,  let  us  not  forget  that  this  stooping,  and 
pardoning,  and  self-imparting  love,  has  for  its  main 
instrument  to  appeal  to  our  hearts,  not  the  cradle  but 
the  Cross.  We  are  being  told  by  many  people  to-day 
that  the  centre  of  Christianity  lies  in  the  thought  of 
an  Incarnation.  Yes.  But  our  Lord  Himself  has  told 
us  what  that  was  for. 


T.9]  RICH  YET  POOR  85 

*  The  Son  of  Man  came  not  to  be  ministered  unto,  but 
to  minister,  and  to  give  His  life  a  ransom  for  many.' 
It  is  only  when  we  look  to  that  Lord  in  His  death,  and 
see  there  the  very  lowest  point  to  which  He  stooped, 
and  the  supreme  manifestation  of  His  grace,  that  we 
shall  be  drawn  to  yield  our  hearts  and  lives  to  Him  in 
thankfulness,  in  trust,  and  in  imitation  :  and  shall  set 
Him  before  us  as  the  pattern  for  our  conduct,  as  well 
as  the  Object  of  our  trust. 

Brethren,  my  text  was  spoken  originally  as  present- 
ing the  motive  and  the  example  for  a  little  piece  of 
pecuniary  liability.  Do  you  take  the  cradle  and  the 
Cross  as  the  law  of  your  lives  ?  For  depend  upon  it, 
the  same  necessity  which  obliged  Jesus  to  come  down 
to  our  level,  if  He  would  lift  us  to  His ;  to  live  our  life 
and  die  our  death,  if  He  would  make  us  partakers  of 
His  immortal  life,  and  deliver  us  from  death  ;  makes  it 
absolutely  necessary  that  if  we  are  to  live  for  anything 
nobler  than  our  own  poor,  transitory  self-aggrandise- 
ment, we  too  must  learn  to  stoop  to  forgive,  to  impart 
ourselves,  and  must  die  by  self-surrender  and  sacrifice, 
if  we  are  ever  to  communicate  any  life,  or  good  of 
life,  to  others.  He  has  loved  us,  and  given  Himself  for 
us.  He  has  set  us  therein  an  example  which  He  com- 
mends to  us  by  His  own  word  when  He  tells  us  that 
•  if  a  corn  of  wheat '  is  to  bring  forth  '  much  fruit '  it 
must  die,  else  it  *  abideth  alone.'  Unless  we  die,  we 
never  truly  live ;  unless  w^e  die  to  ourselves  for  others, 
and  like  Jesus,  we  live  alone  in  the  solitude  of  a  self- 
enclosed  self-regard.  So  living,  we  are  dead  whilst  we 
live. 


WILLING  AND  NOT  DOING 

*  Now  therefore  perform  the  doing  of  it ;  that  as  there  was  a  readiness  to  will 
BO  there  may  he  a  performance  also.'— 2  Cor.  viii.  11. 

The  Revised  Version  reads:  'But- now  complete  the 
doing  also  ;  that  as  there  was  the  readiness  to  will,  so 
there  may  be  the  completion  also  out  of  your  ability.' 
A  collection  of  money  for  the  almost  pauper  church  at 
Jerusalem  bulked  very  largely  in  the  Apostle's  mind 
at  the  date  of  the  writing  of  the  two  letters  to  the 
Corinthian  church.  We  learn  that  that  church  had 
been  the  first  to  agree  to  the  project,  and  then  had 
very  distinctly  hung  back  from  implementing  its 
promises  and  fulfilling  its  good  intentions.  So  the 
Apostle,  in  the  chapter  from  which  my  text  is  taken, 
with  wonderful  delicacy,  dignity,  and  profundity,  sets 
forth  the  true  principle,  not  only  of  Christian  giving, 
but  of  Christian  asking.  The  text  advises  that  the  gush- 
ing sentiments  of  brotherly  sympathy  and  liberality 
which  had  inspired  the  Corinthians  a  year  ago  should 
now  bear  some  fruit  in  action.  So  Paul  is  going  to 
send  Titus,  his  right-hand  man  at  the  time,  to  hurry 
up  and  finish  off  the  collection  and  have  done  with  it. 
The  text  is  in  effect  the  message  which  Titus  was  to 
carry;  but  it  has  a  far  wider  application  than  that. 
It  is  a  needful  advice  for  us  all  about  a  great  many 
other  things :  '  As  there  was  a  readiness  to  will,  so  let 
there  be  a  performance  also.' 

Resolutions,  noble  and  good  and  Christlike,  have  a 
strange  knack  of  cheating  the  people  who  make  them. 
So  we  all  need  the  exhortation  not  to  be  befooled  by 
fancying  that  we  have  done,  when  we  have  only  willed. 
Of  course  we  shall  not  do  unless  we  will.    But  there  is 

M 


V.  11]      WILLING  AND  NOT  DOING  37 

a  wide  gap,  as  our  experience  witnesses,  between  the 
two  things.  We  all  know  what  place  it  is  to  which, 
according  to  the  old  proverb,  the  road  is  paved  with 
good  intentions;  and  th«  only  way  to  pull  up  that 
paving  is  to  take  Paul's  advice  here  and  always,  and 
immediately  to  put  into  action  the  resolves  of  our 
hearts.  Now  I  desire  to  say  two  or  three  very  plain 
and  simple  things  about  this  matter. 

I.  I  would  have  you  consider  the  necessity  of  this 
commandment. 

Consider  that  the  fault  here  warned  against  is  a 
universal  one.  What  different  men  we  should  be  if 
our  resolutions  had  fruited  in  conduct  I  In  all  regions 
of  life  that  is  true,  but  most  emphatically  is  it  true  in 
regard  to  religion.  The  damning  tragedy  of  many 
lives,  and  I  dare  say  of  those  of  some  of  my  hearers, 
is  that  men  have  over  and  over  again  determined  that 
they  would  be  Christians,  and  they  are  not  Christians 
yet;  just  because  they  have  let  *the  native  hue  of 
resolution  be  sicklied  over '  by  some  paleness  or  other, 
and  so  have  resolved  and  resolved  and  resolved  till 
every  nerve  of  action  is  rotted  away,  and  they  will  die 
unchristian.  I  dare  say  that  there  are  men  or  women 
listening  to  me  now,  perhaps  with  grey  hairs  upon 
them,  who  can  remember  times,  in  the  springtide  of 
their  youth,  when  they  said,  *  I  will  give  my  heart  to 
Jesus  Christ,  and  set  my  faith  upon  Him';  and  they 
have  not  done  it  yet.  Now,  therefore,  'as  there  was 
a  readiness  to  will,  let  there  be  also  the  performance.' 

But  it  is  not  only  in  regard  to  that  most  important 
of  all  resolves  that  I  wish  to  say  a  word.  All  Christians, 
I  am  sure,  know  what  it  is,  over  and  over  again,  to 
have  had  stirrings  in  their  hearts  which  they  have  been 
able  to  consolidate  into  determination,  but  have  not 


88  II.  CORINTHIANS  [ch.viii. 

been  able  to  carry  into  act.  *  The  children  have  come 
to  the  birth,  and  there  is  not  strength  to  bring  them 
forth.'  That  is  true  about  all  of  us,  more  or  less,  and 
it  is  very  solemnly  true  of  a  great  many  of  us  pro- 
fessing Christians.  We  have  tried  to  cure — we  have 
determined  that  we  will  cure — manifest  and  flagrant 
defects  or  faults  in  our  Christian  life.  We  have 
resolved,  and  some  nipping  frost  has  come,  and  the 
blossoms  have  dropped  on  the  grass  before  they  have 
ever  set  into  fruit.  I  know  that  is  so  about  you,  because 
I  know  that  it  is  so  about  myself.  And  therefore,  dear 
brethren,  I  appeal  to  you,  and  ask  you  whether  the 
exhortation  of  my  text  has  not  a  sharp  point  for  every 
one  of  us — whether  the  universality  of  this  defect  does 
not  demand  that  we  all  should  gravely  consider  the 
exhortation  here  before  us  ? 

Then,  again,  let  me  remina  you  how  this  injunction 
is  borne  in  upon  us  by  the  consideration  of  the  strength 
of  the  opposition  with  which  we  have  always  to  con- 
tend, in  every  honest  attempt  to  bring  to  act  our  best 
resolutions.  Did  you  ever  try  to  cure  some  little  habit, 
some  mere  trifle,  a  trick  of  manner  or  twist  of  the 
finger,  or  some  attitude  or  tone  that  might  be  ugly  and 
awkward,  and  that  people  told  you  that  it  would  be 
better  to  get  rid  of?  You  know  how  hard  it  is.  There 
is  always  a  tremendous  gulf  between  the  ideal  and  its 
realisation  in  life.  As  long  as  we  are  moving  in  vacuo 
we  move  without  any  friction  or  difficulty ;  but  as  soon 
as  we  come  out  into  a  world  where  there  are  an  atmo- 
sphere and  opposing  forces,  then  friction  comes  in,  and 
speed  diminishes ;  and  we  never  become  what  we  aim 
to  be.  We  begin  with  grand  purposes,  and  we  end 
with  very  poor  results.  We  all  start,  in  our  early 
days,  with  the  notion  that  our  lives  are  going  to  be 


T.  11]      WILLING  AND  NOT  DOING  39 

radiant  and  beautiful,  and  all  unlike  what  the  limita- 
tions of  power  and  the  antagonisms  that  we  have  to 
meet  make  of  them  at  last.  The  tree  of  our  life's  doings 
has  to  grow,  like  those  contorted  pines  on  the  slopes  of 
the  Alps,  in  many  storms,  with  heavy  weights  of  snow 
on  its  branches,  and  beaten  about  by  tempests  from 
every  quarter  of  the  heavens ;  and  so  it  gets  gnarled 
and  knotted  and  very  unlike  the  symmetrical  beauty 
that  we  dreamed  would  adorn  it.  We  begin  with  saying : 
'  Come !  Let  us  build  a  tower  whose  top  shall  reach  to 
heaven ' ;  and  we  are  contented  at  last,  if  we  have  put 
up  some  little  tumble-down  shed  where  we  can  get 
shelter  for  our  heads  from  the  blast. 

And  the  difficulty  in  bringing  into  action  our  best 
selves  besets  us  in  the  matter  of  translating  our  resolu- 
tions into  practice.  What  are  arrayed  against  it  ?  A 
feeble  will,  enslaved  too  often  by  passions  and  flesh 
and  habits,  and  all  about  us  lie  obstacles  to  our 
carrying  into  action  our  conscientious  convictions,  our 
deepest  resolutions ;  obstacles  to  our  being  true  to  our 
true  selves ;  to  which  obstacles,  alas,  far  too  many  of 
us  habitually,  and  all  of  us  occasionally,  succumb.  That 
being  the  case,  do  not  we  all  need  to  ponder  in  our 
deepest  hearts,  and  to  pray  for  grace  to  make  the 
motto  of  our  lives, '  As  there  was  a  readiness  to  will, 
let  there  be  a  performance '  ? 

II.  Consider  the  importance  of  this  counsel. 

That  is  borne  in  upon  mind  and  conscience  by  look- 
ing at  the  disastrous  effects  of  letting  resolutions 
remain  sterile.  Consider  how  apt  we  are  to  deceive 
ourselves  with  unfulfilled  purposes.  The  quick  re- 
sponse which  an  easily-moved  nature  may  make  to 
some  appeal  of  noble  thought  or  lofty  principle  is 
mistaken  for  action,  and  we  are  tempted  to  think  that 


40  II.  CORINTHIANS  [ch.viii. 

willing  is  almost  as  good  as  if  we  had  done  what  we 
half  resolved  on.  And  there  is  a  kind  of  glow  of  satis- 
faction that  comes  when  such  a  man  thinks,  'I  have 
done  well  in  that  I  have  determined.'  The  Devil  will 
let  you  resolve  as  much  as  you  like — the  more  the 
better;  only  the  more  easily  you  resolve,  the  more 
certainly  he  will  block  the  realisation.  Let  us  take 
care  of  that  seducing  temptation  which  is  apt  to  lead 
us  all  to  plume  ourselves  on  good  resolutions,  and  to 
fancy  that  they  are  almost  equivalent  to  their  own 
fulfilment.  Cheques  are  all  very  well  if  there  be  bullion 
in  the  bank  cellars  to  pay  them  with  when  they  fall 
due,  but  if  that  be  not  so,  then  the  issuing  of  them  is 
crime  and  fraud.  Our  resolutions,  made  and  forgotten 
as  so  many  of  our  good  resolutions  are,  are  very  little 
better. 

Note,  too,  how  rapidly  the  habit  of  substituting 
lightly-made  resolutions  for  seriously-endeavoured 
acts  grows. 

And  mark,  further,  how  miserable  and  debilitating 
it  is  to  carry  the  dead  weight  of  such  unaccomplished 
intentions. 

Nothing  so  certainly  weakens  a  man  as  a  multitude 
of  resolves  that  he  knows  he  has  never  fulfilled.  They 
weaken  his  will,  burden  his  conscience,  stand  in  the 
way  of  his  hopes,  make  him  feel  as  if  the  entail  of 
evil  was  too  firm  and  strong  to  be  ever  broken.  *  O 
wretched  man  that  I  am!'  said  one  who  had  made 
experience  of  what  it  was  to  will  what  was  good,  and 
not  to  find  how  to  perform, '  who  shall  deliver  me  from 
the  body  of  this  death  ? '  It  is  an  awful  thing  to  have 
to  carry  a  corpse  about  on  your  back.  And  that  was 
what  Paul  thought  the  man  did  who  loaded  his  own 
shoulders  with  abortive  resolutions,  that  perished  in 


T.ll]      WILLING  AND  NOT  DOING  41 

the  birth,  and  never  grew  up  to  maturity.  Weak  and 
miserable  is  always  the  man  who  is  swift  to  resolve 
and  slow  to  carry  out  his  resolutions. 

III.  And  now  let  me  say  a  word  before  I  close  about 
how  this  universal  and  grave  disease  is  to  be  coped  with. 

Well,  I  should  say  to  begin  with,  let  us  take  very 
soberly  and  continually  into  our  consciousness  the  re- 
cognition of  the  fact  that  the  disease  is  there.  And 
then  may  I  say,  let  us  be  rather  slower  to  resolve  than 
we  often  are.  '  Better  is  it  that  thou  shouldest  not 
vow  than  that  thou  shouldest  vow  and  not  pay.' 
The  man  who  has  never  had  the  determination  to  give 
up  some  criminal  indulgence — say,  drink — is  possibly 
less  criminal,  and  certainly  less  weak,  than  the  man 
who,  when  his  head  aches,  and  the  consequences  of  his 
self-indulgence  are  vividly  realised  by  him,  makes  up 
his  mind  to  be  a  teetotaller,  and  soon  stumbles  into 
the  first  dram-shop  that  is  open,  and  then  reels  out 
a  drunkard.  Do  not  vow  until  you  have  made  up  your 
minds  to  pay.  Remember  that  it  is  a  solemn  act  to 
determine  anything,  especially  anything  bearing  on 
moral  and  religious  life ;  and  that  you  had  far  better 
keep  your  will  in  suspense  than  spring  to  the  resolution 
with  thoughtless  levity  and  leave  it  with  the  same. 

Further,  the  habit  of  promptly  carrying  out  our 
resolves  is  one  that,  like  all  other  habits,  can  be  culti- 
vated. And  we  can  cultivate  it  in  little  things,  in  the 
smallest  trifles  of  daily  life,  which  by  their  myriads 
make  up  life  itself,  in  order  that  it  may  be  a  fixed 
custom  of  our  minds  when  great  resolves  have  to  be 
made.  The  man  who  has  trained  himself  day  in  and 
day  out,  in  regard  to  the  insignificances  of  daily  life, 
to  let  act  follow  resolve  as  the  thunder  peal  succeeds 
the  lightning  flash,  is  the  man  who,  if  he  is  moved  to 


42  II.  CORINTHIANS  [ch.  ix. 

make  a  great  resolve  about  his  religion,  or  about  his 
conduct,  will  be  most  likely  to  carry  it  out.  Get  the 
magical  influence  of  habit  on  your  side,  and  you 
will  have  done  much  to  conquer  the  evil  of  abortive 
resolutions. 

But  then  there  is  something  a  great  deal  more  than 
that  to  be  said.  The  Apostle  did  not  content  himself, 
in  the  passage  already  referred  to,  with  bewailing  the 
wretchedness  of  the  condition  in  which  to  will  was 
present,  but  how  to  perform  he  found  not.  He  asked, 
and  he  triumphantly  answered,  the  question,  '  Who 
shall  deliver  me  ? '  with  the  great  words,  '  I  thank  God 
through  Jesus  Christ  our  Lord.'  There  is  the  secret ; 
keep  near  Him,  trust  Him,  open  your  hearts  to  the 
influences  of  that  Divine  Spirit  who  makes  us  free 
from  the  law  of  sin  and  death.  And  if  thus,  knowing 
our  weakness,  recognising  our  danger,  humbly  trying 
to  cultivate  the  habit  of  prompt  discharge  of  all  dis- 
cerned duty,  we  leave  ourselves  in  Jesus  Christ's  hands, 
and  wait,  and  ask,  and  believe  that  we  possess.  His 
cleansing  Spirit,  then  we  shall  not  ask  and  wait  in 
vain.  '  Work  out  your  own  salvation,  .  .  .  for  it  is  God 
that  worketh  in  you,  both  the  willing  and  the  doing.' 


ALL  GRACE  ABOUNDING 

'  God  Is  able  to  make  all  grace  abound  toward  you ;  that  ye,  always  having  all< 
sufficiency  in  all  things,  may  abound  to  every  good  work.'— 2  Cor.  ix.  8. 

In  addition  to  all  his  other  qualities  the  Apostle  was  an 
extremely  good  man  of  business  ;  and  he  had  a  field  for 
the  exercise  of  that  quality  in  the  collection  for  the 
poor  saints  of  Judea,  which  takes  up  so  much  of  this 
letter,  and  occupied  for  so  long  a  period  so  much  of  his 


▼.8]  ALL  GRACE  ABOUNDING  43 

thoughts  and  efforts.  It  was  for  the  sake  of  showing 
by  actual  demonstration  that  would  '  touch  the  hearts ' 
of  the  Jewish  brethren,  the  absolute  unity  of  the  two 
halves  of  the  Church,  the  Gentile  and  the  Jewish,  that 
the  Apostle  took  so  much  trouble  in  this  matter.  The 
words  which  I  have  read  for  my  text  come  in  the  midst 
of  a  very  earnest  appeal  to  the  Corinthian  Christians 
for  their  pecuniary  help.  He  is  dwelling  upon  the  same 
thought  which  is  expressed  in  the  well-known  words : 
•  What  I  gave  I  kept ;  what  I  kept  I  lost.' 

But  whilst  the  words  of  my  text  primarily  applied 
to  money  matters,  you  see  that  they  are  studiously 
general,  universal.  The  Apostle,  after  his  fashion,  is 
lifting  up  a  little  *  secular '  affair  into  a  high  spiritual 
region ;  and  he  lays  down  in  my  text  a  broad  general 
law,  which  goes  to  the  very  depths  of  the  Christian 
life. 

Now,  notice,  we  have  here  in  three  clauses  three 
stages  which  we  may  venture  to  distinguish  as  the 
fountain,  the  basin,  the  stream.  *  God  is  able  to  make 
all  grace  abound  toward  you ' ; — there  is  the  fountain. 
'That  ye  always,  having  all-sufficiency  in  all  things'; 
— there  is  the  basin  that  receives  the  gush  from  the 
fountain.  '  May  abound  in  every  good  work ' ; — there 
is  the  stream  that  comes  from  the  basin.  The  fountain 
pours  into  the  basin,  that  the  flow  from  the  basin  may 
feed  the  stream. 

Now  this  thought  of  Paul's  goes  to  the  heart  of 
things.    So  let  us  look  at  it. 

I.  The  Fountain. 

The  Christian  life  in  all  its  aspects  and  experiences 
is  an  outflow  from  '  the  Fountain  of  Life,'  the  giving 
God.  Observe  how  emphatically  the  Apostle,  in  the 
context,  accumulates  words  that  express  universality; 


44  II.  CORINTHIANS  [ch.  ix. 

•  all  grace  •  .  .  aZZ-sufficiency  for  all  things  .  .  .  every 
good  work.*  But  even  these  expressions  do  not  satisfy 
Paul,  and  he  has  to  repeat  the  word  '  abound,'  in  order 
to  give  some  faint  idea  of  his  conception  of  the  full 
tide  which  gushes  from  the  fountain.  It  is  '  all  grace,* 
and  it  is  abounding  grace. 

Now  what  does  he  mean  by  *  grace '  ?  That  word  is  a 
kind  of  shorthand  for  the  whole  sum  of  the  unmerited 
blessings  which  come  to  men  through  Jesus  Christ. 
Primarily,  it  describes  what  we,  for  want  of  a  better 
expression,  have  to  call  a  'disposition'  in  the  divine 
nature;  and  it  means,  then,  if  so  looked  at,  the  un- 
conditioned, undeserved,  spontaneous,  eternal,  stoop- 
ing, pardoning  love  of  God.  That  is  grace,  in  the 
primary  New  Testament  use  of  the  phrase. 

But  there  are  no  idle  '  dispositions '  in  God.  They 
are  always  energising,  and  so  the  word  glides  from 
meaning  the  disposition,  to  meaning  the  manifestation 
and  activities  of  it,  and  the  '  grace '  of  our  Lord  is  that 
love  in  exercise.  And  then,  since  the  divine  energies 
are  never  fruitless,  the  word  passes  over,  further,  to 
mean  all  the  blessed  and  beautiful  things  in  a  soul 
which  are  the  consequences  of  the  Promethean  truth 
of  God's  loving  hand,  the  outcome  in  life  of  the  inward 
bestowment  which  has  its  cause,  its  sole  cause,  in  God's 
ceaseless,  unexhausted  love,  unmerited  and  free. 

That,  very  superficially  and  inadequately  set  forth, 
is  at  least  a  glimpse  into  the  fulness  and  greatness  of 
meaning  that  lies  in  that  profound  New  Testament 
word, '  grace.'  But  the  Apostle  here  puts  emphasis  on 
the  variety  of  forms  which  the  one  divine  gift  assumes. 
It  is  *all  grace'  which  God  is  able  to  make  abound 
toward  you.  So  then,  you  see  this  one  transcendant 
gift  from  the  divine   heart,  when  it  comes  into  our 


C.8]  ALL  GRACE  ABOUNDING  45 

human  experience,  is  like  a  meteor  when  it  passes 
into  the  atmosphere  of  earth,  and  catches  fire  and 
blazes,  showering  out  a  multitude  of  radiant  points  of 
light.  The  grace  is  many-sided — many-sided  to  us,  but 
one  in  its  source  and  in  its  character.  For  at  bottom, 
that  which  God  in  His  grace  gives  to  us  as  His  grace  is 
what?  Himself;  or  if  you  like  to  put  it  in  another 
form,  which  comes  to  the  same  thing — new  life  through 
Jesus  Christ.  That  is  the  encyclopsediacal  gift,  which 
contains  within  itself  all  grace.  And  just  as  the 
physical  life  in  each  of  us,  one  in  all  its  manifesta- 
tions, produces  many  results,  and  shines  in  the  eye, 
and  blushes  in  the  cheek,  and  gives  strength  to  the 
arm,  and  flexibility  and  deftness  to  the  fingers  and 
swiftness  to  the  foot :  so  also  is  that  one  grace  which, 
being  manifold  in  its  manifestations,  is  one  in  its 
essence.    There  are  many  graces,  there  is  one  Grace. 

But  this  grace  is  not  only  many-sided,  but  abounding. 
It  is  not  congruous  with  God's  wealth,  nor  with  His 
love,  that  He  should  give  scantily,  or,  as  it  were,  should 
open  but  a  finger  of  the  hand  that  is  full  of  His  gifts, 
and  let  out  a  little  at  a  time.  There  are  no  sluices  on 
that  great  stream  so  as  to  regulate  its  flow,  and  to  give 
sometimes  a  painful  trickle  and  sometimes  a  full  gush, 
but  this  fountain  is  always  pouring  itself  out,  and  it 
•  abounds.' 

But  then  we  are  pulled  up  short  by  another  word  in 
this  first  clause :  '  God  is  able  to  make.'  Paul  does  not 
say,  '  God  will  make.'  He  puts  the  whole  weight  of 
responsibility  for  that  ability  becoming  operative  upon 
us.  There  are  conditions ;  and  although  we  may  have 
access  to  that  full  fountain,  it  will  not  pour  on  us  *  all 
grace  *  and  '  abundant  grace,'  unless  we  observe  these, 
and  so  turn  God's  ability  to  give  into  actual  giviug. 


46  II.  CORINTHIANS  [ch.  ix. 

And  how  do  we  do  that  ?  By  desire,  by  expectance,  by 
petition,  by  faithful  stewardship.  If  we  have  these 
things,  if  we  have  tutored  ourselves,  and  experience 
has  helped  in  the  tuition,  to  make  large  our  expect- 
ancy, God  will  smile  down  upon  us  and  *  do  exceed- 
ing abundantly  above  all '  that  we  '  think '  as  well  as 
above  all  that  we  '  ask.'  Brethren,  if  our  supplies  are 
scant,  when  the  full  fountain  is  gushing  at  our  sides, 
we  are  'not  straitened  in  God,  we  are  straitened  in 
ourselves.'  Christian  possibilities  are  Christian  obliga- 
tions, and  what  we  might  have  and  do  not  have,  is  our 
condemnation. 

I  turn,  in  the  next  place,  to  what  I  have,  perhaps  too 
fancifully,  called 

II.  The  Basin. 

•  God  is  able  to  make  all  grace  abound  toward  you, 
that  ye,  having  always  all-sufificiency  in  all  things, 
may,'  .  .  .  etc. 

The  result  of  all  this  many-sided  and  exuberant  out- 
pouring of  grace  from  the  fountain  is  that  the  basin 
may  be  full.  Considering  the  infinite  source  and  the 
small  receptacle,  we  might  have  expected  something 
more  than  '  sufficiency '  to  have  resulted. 

Divine  grace  is  sufficient.  Is  it  not  more  than  suffi- 
cient? Yes,  no  doubt.  But  what  Paul  wishes  us  to 
feel  is  this — to  put  it  into  very  plain  English — that  the 
good  gifts  of  the  divine  grace  will  always  be  propor- 
tioned to  our  work,  and  to  our  sufferings  too.  We 
shall  feel  that  we  have  enough,  if  we  are  as  we  ought 
to  be.  Sufficiency  is  more  than  a  man  gets  anywhere 
else.  '  Enough  is  as  good  as  a  feast.'  And  if  we  have 
strength,  which  we  may  have,  to  do  the  day's  tasks,  and 
strength  to  carry  the  day's  crosses,  and  strength  to 
accejDt  the  day's  sorrows,  and  strength  to  master  the 


V.8]  ALL  GRACE  ABOUNDING  47 

day's  temptations,  that  is  as  much  as  we  need  wish  to 
have,  even  out  of  the  fulness  of  God.  And  we  shall 
get  it,  dear  brethren,  if  we  will  only  fulfil  the  con- 
ditions. If  we  exercise  expectance,  and  desire  and 
petition  and  faithful  stewardship,  we  shall  get  what 
we  need.  '  Thy  shoes  shall  be  iron  and  brass,'  if  the 
road  is  a  steep  and  rocky  one  that  would  wear  out 
leather.  *  As  thy  days  so  shall  thy  strength  be.'  God 
does  not  hurl  His  soldiers  in  a  blundering  attack  on 
some  impregnable  mountain,  where  they  are  slain  in 
heaps  at  the  base  ;  but  when  He  lays  a  commandment 
on  my  shoulders.  He  infuses  strength  into  me,  and 
according  to  the  good  homely  old  saying  that  has 
brought  comfort  to  many  a  sad  and  weighted  heart, 
makes  the  back  to  bear  the  burden.  The  heavy  task  or 
the  crushing  sorrow  is  often  the  key  that  opens  the 
door  of  God's  treasure-house.  You  have  had  very  little 
experience  either  of  life  or  of  Christian  life,  if  you  have 
not  learnt  by  this  time  that  the  harder  your  work,  and 
the  darker  your  sorrows,  the  mightier  have  been  God's 
supports,  and  the  more  starry  the  lights  that  have 
shone  upon  your  path.  'That  ye,  always  having  all- 
sufficiency  in  all  things.' 

One  more  word :  this  sufficiency  should  be  more 
uniform,  is  uniform  in  the  divine  intention,  and  in 
so  far  as  the  flow  of  the  fountain  is  concerned.  Always 
having  had  I  may  be  sure  that  I  always  shall  have.  Of 
course  I  know  that,  in  so  far  as  our  physical  nature 
conditions  our  spiritual  experience,  there  will  be  ups 
and  downs,  moments  of  emancipation  and  moments  of 
slavery.  There  will  be  times  when  the  flower  opens, 
and  times  when  it  shuts  itself  up.  But  I  am  sure  that 
the  great  mass  of  Christian  people  might  have  a  far 
more  level  temperature  in  their  Christian  experience 


48  11.  CORINTHIANS  [ch.ix. 

than  they  have  ;  that  we  could,  if  we  would,  have  far 
more  experimental  knowledge  of  this  '  always '  of  my 
text.  God  means  that  the  basin  should  be  always  full 
right  up  to  the  top  of  the  marble  edge,  and  that  the 
more  is  drawn  off  from  it,  the  more  should  flow  into 
it.  But  it  is  very  often  like  the  reservoirs  in  the  hills 
for  some  great  city  in  a  drought,  where  great  stretches 
of  the  bottom  are  exposed,  and  again,  when  the 
drought  breaks,  are  full  to  the  top  of  the  retaining 
wall.  That  should  not  be.  Our  Christian  life  should 
run  on  the  high  levels.  Why  does  it  not?  Possi- 
bilities are  duties. 

And  now,  lastly,  we  have  here  what,  adhering  to  my 
metaphor,  I  call 

III.  The  stream. 

'  That  ye,  always  having  all-sufficiency  in  all  things, 
may  abound  to  every  good  work.' 

That  is  what  God  gives  us  His  grace  for ;  and  that  is 
a  very  important  consideration.  The  end  of  God's 
dealings  with  us,  poor,  weak,  sinful  creatures,  is  char- 
acter and  conduct.  Of  course  you  can  state  the  end  in 
a  great  many  other  ways  ;  but  there  have  been  terrible 
evils  arising  from  the  way  in  which  Evangelical 
preachers  have  too  often  talked,  as  if  the  end  of  God's 
dealings  with  us  was  the  vague  thing  which  they  call 
*  salvation,'  and  by  which  many  of  their  hearers  take 
them  to  mean  neither  more  nor  less  than  dodging  Hell. 
But  the  New  Testament,  with  all  its  mysticism,  even 
when  it  soars  highest,  and  speaks  most  about  the  per- 
fection of  humanity,  and  the  end  of  God's  dealings 
being  that  we  may  be  '  filled  with  the  fulness  of  God,' 
never  loses  its  wholesome,  sane  hold  of  the  common 
moralities  of  daily  life,  and  proclaims  that  we  receive 
all,  in  order  that  we  may  be  able  to  *  maintain  good 


7.B]  ALL  GRACE  ABOUNDING  49 

works  for  necessary  uses.*  And  if  we  lay  that  to  heart, 
and  remember  that  a  correct  creed,  and  a  living  faith, 
and  precious,  select,  inward  emotions  and  experiences 
are  all  intended  to  evolve  into  lives,  filled  and  radiant 
with  common  moralities  and  '  good  works ' — not  mean- 
ing thereby  the  things  which  go  by  that  name  in 
popular  phraseology,  but '  whatsoever  things  are  lovely 
.  .  .  and  of  good  report ' — then  we  shall  understand  a 
little  better  what  we  are  here  for  and  what  Jesus 
Christ  died  for,  and  what  His  Spirit  is  given  and  lives 
in  us  for.  So  •  good  works '  is  the  end,  in  one  very  im- 
portant aspect,  of  all  that  avalanche  of  grace  which 
has  been  from  eternity  rushing  down  upon  us  from 
the  heights  of  God. 

There  is  one  more  thing  to  note,  and  that  is  that,  in 
our  character  and  conduct,  we  should  copy  the  *  giving 
grace.'  Look  how  eloquently  and  significantly,  in  the 
first  and  last  clauses  of  my  text,  the  same  words  recur. 
*God  is  able  to  make  all  grace  abound,  that  ye  may 
abound  in  all  good  work.'  Copy  God  in  the  many- 
sidedness  and  in  the  copiousness  of  the  good  that  flows 
out  from  your  life  and  conduct,  because  of  your  posses- 
sion of  that  divine  grace.  And  remember,  'to  him 
that  hath  shall  be  given.'  We  pray  for  more  grace; 
we  need  to  pray  for  that,  no  doubt.  Do  we  use  the 
grace  that  God  has  given  us?  If  we  do  not,  the 
remainder  of  that  great  word  which  I  have  just  quoted 
will  be  fulfilled  in  you.  God  forbid  that  any  of  us 
should  receive  the  grace  of  God  in  vain,  and  there- 
fore come  under  the  stern  and  inevitable  sentence, 
•From  him  that  hath  not  shall  be  taken  away,  even 
that  which  he  hath ! ' 


GOD'S  UNSPEAKABLE  GIFT 

•Thanks  be  unto  God  for  His  unspeakable  gift.'— 2  Cor.  ix.  15. 

Tt  seems  strange  that  there  should  ever  have  been  any 
doubt  as  to  what  gift  it  is  which  evokes  this  burst  of 
thanksgiving.  There  is  but  one  of  God's  many  mercies 
which  is  worthy  of  being  thus  singled  out.  There 
is  one  blazing  central  sun  which  shines  out  amidst 
all  the  galaxy  of  lights  which  fill  the  heavens.  There 
is  one  gift  of  God  which,  beyond  all  others,  merits  the 
designation  of  '  unspeakable.'  The  gift  of  Christ  draws 
all  other  divine  gifts  after  it.  '  How  should  He  not 
with  Him  also  freely  give  us  all  things.' 

The  connection  in  which  this  abrupt  jet  of  praise 
stands  is  very  remarkable.  The  Apostle  has  been 
dwelling  on  the  Christian  obligation  of  giving  bounti- 
fully and  cheerfully,  and  on  the  great  law  that  a  glad 
giver  is  'enriched'  and  not  impoverished  thereby, 
whilst  the  recipients,  for  their  part,  are  blessed  by 
having  thankfulness  evoked  towards  the  givers.  And 
that  contemplation  of  the  happy  interchange  of  benefit 
and  thanks  between  men  leads  the  fervid  Apostle  to 
the  thoughts  which  were  always  ready  to  spring  to  his 
lips — of  God  as  the  great  pattern  of  giving  and  of  the 
gratitude  to  Him  which  should  fill  all  our  souls.  The 
expression  here  '  unspeakable '  is  what  I  wish  chiefly 
to  fix  upon  now.  It  means  literally  that  which  cannot 
be  fully  declared.  Language  fails  because  thought 
fails. 

I.  The  gift  comes  from  unspeakable  love. 

God  so  loved  the  world  that  He  gave  His  only  be- 
gotten Son.  The  love  is  the  cause  of  the  gift :  the  gift 
is  the  expression  of  the  love.    John's  Gospel  says  that 


V.  15]      GOD'S  UNSPEAKABLE  GIFT  51 

the  Son  which  is  in  the  bosom  of  the  Father  has  declared 
Him.  Paul  here  uses  a  related  word  for  unspeakable 
which  might  be  rendered  '  that  which  cannot  be  fully- 
declared.'  The  declaration  of  the  Father  partly  con- 
sists in  this,  that  He  is  declared  to  be  undeclarable, 
the  proclamation  of  His  name  consists  partly  in  this 
that  it  is  proclaimed  to  be  a  name  that  cannot  be  pro- 
claimed. Language  fails  when  it  is  applied  to  the 
expression  of  human  emotion;  no  tongue  can  ever 
fully  serve  the  heart.  Whether  there  be  any  thoughts 
too  great  for  words  or  no,  there  are  emotions  too 
great.  Language  is  ever  '  weaker  than  our  grief  and 
not  seldom  weaker  than  our  love.  It  is  but  the  sur- 
face water  that  can  be  run  off  through  the  narrow 
channel  of  speech  :  the  central  deep  remains.  If  it  be 
so  with  human  affection,  how  much  more  must  it  be 
so  with  God's  love  ?  With  lowly  condescension  He  uses 
all  sweet  images  drawn  from  earthly  relationships,  to 
help  us  in  understanding  His.  Every  dear  name  is 
pressed  into  the  service — father,  mother,  husband,  wife, 
brother,  friend,  and  after  all  are  exhausted,  the  love 
which  clothed  itself  in  them  all  in  turn,  and  used  them 
all  to  give  some  faint  hint  of  its  own  perfection, 
remains  unspoken.  We  know  human  love,  its  limita- 
tions, its  changes,  its  extravagances,  its  shortcomings, 
and  cannot  but  feel  how  unworthy  it  is  to  mirror  for 
us  that  perfection  in  God  which  we  venture  to  name 
by  a  name  so  soiled.  The  analogies  between  what  we 
call  love  in  man  and  love  in  God  must  be  supplemented 
by  the  differences  between  them,  if  we  are  ever  to 
approach  a  worthy  conception  of  the  unspeakable  love 
that  underlies  the  unspeakable  gift. 

II.  The  gift  involves  unspeakable  sacrifice. 

Human    love    desires    to    give    its    most    precious 


52  11.  CORINTHIANS  [ch.  ix. 

treasures  to  its  object  and  is  then  most  blessed :  divine 
love  cannot  come  short  of  human  in  this  most  charac- 
teristic of  its  manifestations.  Surely  the  copy  is  not 
to  surpass  the  original,  nor  the  mirror  to  flash  more 
brightly  than  the  sun  which,  at  the  brightest,  it  but 
reflects.  In  such  a  matter  we  can  but  stammer  when 
we  try  to  find  words.  As  our  text  warns  us,  we  are 
trying  to  utter  the  unutterable  when  we  seek  to  speak 
of  God's  giving  up  for  us  ;  but  however  such  a  thought 
may  seem  to  be  forbidden  by  other  aspects  of  the 
divine  nature,  it  seems  to  be  involved  in  the  great 
truth  that  '  God  is  love.'  Since  He  is,  His  blessedness 
too,  must  be  in  imparting,  and  in  parting  with  what 
He  gives.  A  humble  worshipper  in  Jewish  times  loved 
enough  to  say  that  he  would  not  offer  unto  God  an 
offering  that  cost  him  nothing,  and  that  loving  height 
of  self-surrender  was  at  the  highest,  but  a  lowly  imita- 
tion of  the  love  to  which  it  looked  up.  When  Paul  in 
the  Epistle  to  the  Romans  says,  '  He  that  spared  not 
His  own  Son  but  delivered  Him  up  for  us  all,'  he  is 
obviously  alluding  to,  and  all  but  quoting,  the  divine 
words  to  Abraham,  'Seeing  thou  hast  not  withheld 
thy  son,  thine  only  son,  from  Me,'  and  the  allusion 
permits  us  to  parallel  what  God  did  when  He  sent  His 
Son  with  what  Abraham  did  when,  with  wrung  heart, 
but  with  submission,  he  bound  and  laid  Isaac  on  the 
altar  and  stretched  forth  his  hand  with  the  knife  in  it 
to  slay  him.  Such  a  representation  contradicts  the 
vulgar  conceptions  of  a  passionless,  self-sufficing,  icy 
deity,  but  reflection  on  the  facts  of  our  own  experience 
and  on  the  blessed  secrets  of  our  own  love,  leads  us  to 
believe  that  some  shadow  of  loss  passed  across  the  in- 
finite and  eternal  completeness  of  the  divine  nature 
when  'God  sent  forth  His  Son  made  of  a  womaij.' 


T.15]      GOD'S  UNSPEAKABLE  GIFT         53 

And  may  we  not  go  further  and  say  that  when  Jesus 
on  the  Cross  cried  from  out  of  the  darkness  of  eclipse, 
'My  God!  My  God!  Why  hast  Thou  forsaken  me?' 
there  was  something  in  the  heavens  corresponding  to 
the  darkness  that  covered  the  earth  and  something  in 
the  Father's  heart  that  answered  the  Son's.  But  our 
text  warns  us  that  such  matters  are  not  for  our  hand- 
ling in  speech,  and  are  best  dealt  with,  not  as  matters 
of  possibly  erring  speculation,  but  as  materials  for 
lowly  thanks  unto  God  for  His  unspeakable  gift. 

But  whatever  may  be  true  about  the  love  of  the 
Father  who  sent,  there  can  be  no  doubt  about  the  love 
of  the  Son  who  came.  No  man  helps  his  fellows  in 
suffering  but  at  the  cost  of  his  own  suffering.  Sym- 
pathy means  fellow- feeling,  and  the  one  indispensable 
condition  of  all  rescue  work  of  any  sort  is  that  the 
rescuer  must  bear  on  his  own  shoulders  the  sins  or 
sorrows  that  he  is  able  to  bear  away.  Heartless  help 
is  no  help.  It  does  not  matter  whether  he  who  '  stands 
and  says,  "Be  ye  clothed  and  fed,'"  gives  or  does  not 
give  '  the  things  necessary,'  he  will  be  but  a  '  miserable 
comforter '  if  he  has  not  in  heart  and  feeling  entered 
into  the  sorrows  and  pains  which  he  seeks  to  alleviate. 
We  need  not  dwell  on  the  familiar  truths  concerning 
Him  who  was  a  •  man  of  sorrows  and  acquainted  with 
grief.'  All  through  His  life  He  was  in  contact  with 
evil,  and  for  Him  the  contact  was  like  that  of  a  naked 
hand  pressed  upon  hot  iron.  The  sins  and  w^oes  of  the 
world  made  His  path  through  it  like  that  of  bare  feet 
on  sharp  flints.  If  He  had  never  died  it  would  still 
have  been  true  that  '  He  was  wounded  for  our  trans- 
gressions and  bruised  for  our  iniquities.'  On  the 
Cross  He  completed  the  libation  which  had  continued 
throughout  His  life  and   '  poured  out  His  soul  unto 


54  II.  CORINTHIANS  [ch.  ix. 

death '  as  He  had  been  pouring  it  out  all  through  His 
life.  We  have  no  measure  by  which  we  can  estimate 
the  inevitable  sufferings  in  such  a  world  as  ours  of 
such  a  spirit  as  Christ's.  We  may  know  something  of 
the  solitude  of  uncongenial  society ;  of  the  pain  of 
seeing  miseries  that  we  cannot  comfort,  of  the  horrors 
of  dwelling  amidst  impurities  that  we  cannot  cleanse, 
and  of  longings  to  escape  from  them  all  to  some 
nest  in  the  wilderness,  but  all  these  are  but  the 
feeblest  shadows  of  the  incarnate  sorrows  whose  name 
among  men  was  Jesus.  Nothing  is  more  pathetic  than 
the  way  in  which  our  Lord  kept  all  these  sorrows  close 
locked  within  His  own  heart,  so  that  scarcely  ever  did 
they  come  to  light.  Once  He  did  permit  a  glimpse  into 
that  hidden  chamber  when  He  said,  *  O  faithless  genera- 
tion, how  long  shall  I  be  with  you,  how  long  shall  I 
suffer  you?'  But  for  the  most  part  His  sorrow  was 
unspoken  because  it  was  '  unspeakable.'  Once  beneath 
the  quivering  olives  in  the  moonlight  of  Gethsemane, 
He  made  a  pitiful  appeal  for  the  little  help  which  three 
drowsy  men  could  give  Him,  when  He  cried,  *  My  soul 
is  exceeding  sorrowful,  even  unto  death.  Tarry  ye 
here  and  watch  with  Me,'  but  for  the  most  part  the 
silence  at  which  His  judges  '  marvelled  greatly,'  and 
raged  as  much  as  they  marvelled,  was  unbroken,  and 
as  '  a  sheep  before  her  shearers  is  dumb,'  so  '  He  opened 
not  His  mouth.'  The  sacrifice  of  His  death  was,  for 
the  most  part,  silent  like  the  sacrifice  of  His  life. 
Should  it  not  call  forth  from  us  floods  of  praise  and 
thanks  to  God  for  His  unspeakable  gift  ? 

III.  The  gift  brings  with  it  unspeakable  results. 

In  Christ  are  hid  'all  the  treasures  of  wisdom  and 
knowledge.'  When  God  gave  us  Him,  He  gave  us  a 
storehouse  In  which  are  contained  treasures  of  truth 


V.  16]      GOD'S  UNSPEAKABLE  GIFT         55 

which  can  never  be  fully  comprehended,  and  which, 
even  if  comprehended,  can  never  be  exhausted.  The 
mystery  of  the  Divine  Name  revealed  in  Jesus,  the 
mystery  of  His  person,  are  themes  on  which  the 
Christian  world  has  been  nourished  ever  since,  and 
which  are  as  full  of  food,  not  for  the  understanding 
only,  but  far  more  for  the  heart  and  the  will,  to-day  as 
ever  they  were.  The  world  may  think  that  it  has  left 
the  teaching  of  Jesus  behind,  but  in  reality  the  teach- 
ing is  far  ahead,  and  the  world's  practise  is  but  slowly 
creeping  towards  its  imperfect  attainment.  The  Gospel 
is  the  guide  of  the  race,  and  each  generation  gathers 
something  more  from  it,  and  progresses  in  the  measure 
in  which  it  follows  Christ ;  and  as  for  the  race,  so  for 
the  individual.  Each  of  Christ's  scholars  finds  his  own 
gift,  and  in  the  measure  of  his  faithfulness  to  what  he 
has  found  makes  ever  new  discoveries  in  the  unsearch- 
able riches  of  Christ.  After  all  have  fed  full  there  still 
remain  abundant  baskets  full  to  be  taken  up. 

He  who  has  sounded  the  depths  of  Jesus  most  com- 
pletely is  ever  the  first  to  acknowledge  that  he  has  been 
but  as  a  child  '  gathering  pebbles  on  the  beach  while 
the  great  ocean  lies  unsounded  before  him.'  No  single 
soul,  and  no  multitude  of  souls,  can  exhaust  Jesus ; 
neither  our  individual  experiences,  nor  the  experiences 
of  a  believing  world  can  fully  realise  the  endless  wealth 
laid  up  in  Him.  He  is  the  Alpha  and  the  Omega  of  all 
our  speech,  the  first  letter  and  the  last  of  our  alphabet, 
between  which  lie  all  the  rest. 

The  gift  is  completed  in  consequences  yet  unspeak- 
able. Even  the  first  blessings  which  the  humblest  faith 
receives  from  the  pierced  hands  have  more  in  them 
than  words  can  tell.  Who  has  ever  spoken  adequately 
and  in  full  correspondence  with  reality  what  it  is  to  have 


56  II.  CORINTHIANS  [ch.  it. 

God's  pardoning  love  flowing  in  upon  the  soul  ?  Many 
singers  have  sung  sweet  psalms  and  hymns  and 
spiritual  songs  on  which  generations  of  devout  souls 
have  fed,  but  none  of  them  has  spoken  the  deepest 
blessedness  of  a  Christian  life,  or  the  calm  raptures  of 
communion  with  God.  It  is  easy  to  utter  the  words 
'forgiveness,  reconciliation,  acceptance,  fellowship, 
eternal  life';  the  syllables  can  be  spoken,  but  who 
knows  or  can  utter  the  depths  of  the  meanings  ?  After 
all  human  words  the  half  has  not  been  told  us,  and  as 
every  soul  carries  within  itself  unrevealable  emotions, 
and  is  a  mystery  after  all  revelation,  so  the  things 
which  God's  gift  brings  to  a  soul  are  after  all  speech 
unspeakable,  and  the  words  *  cannot  be  uttered '  which 
they  who  are  caught  up  into  the  third  heavens  hear. 

Then  we  may  extend  our  thoughts  to  the  future 
form  of  Christian  experience.  *  It  doth  not  yet  appear 
what  we  should  be.'  All  our  conceptions  of  a  future 
existence  must  necessarily  be  inadequate.  Nothing 
but  experience  can  reveal  them  to  ue,  and  our  experi- 
ence there  will  be  capable  of  indefinite  expansion,  and 
through  eternity  there  will  be  endless  growth  in  the 
appropriation  of  the  unspeakable  gift. 

For  us  the  only  recompense  that  we  can  make  for  the 
unspeakable  gift  is  to  receive  it  w^ith  'thanks  unto 
God '  and  the  yielding  up  of  our  hearts  to  Him.  God 
pours  this  love  upon  us  freely,  without  stint.  It  is 
unspeakable  in  the  depths  of  its  source,  in  the  manner 
of  its  manifestation,  in  the  glory  of  its  issues.  It  is 
like  some  great  stream,  rising  in  the  trackless  moun- 
tains, broad  and  deep,  and  leading  on  to  a  sunlit 
ocean.  We  stand  on  the  bank ;  let  us  trust  ourselves 
to  its  broad  bosom.  It  will  bear  us  safe.  And  let  us 
take  heed  that  we  receive  not  the  gift  of  God  in  vain. 


A  MILITANT  MESSAGE 

*  Casting  down  imaginat  ious,  and  every  high  thing  that  is  exalted  against  the 
knowledge  of  God,  and  bringing  every  thought  into  captivity  to  the  obedience  of 
Christ ;  and  being  in  readiness  to  avenge  all  disobedience,  when  your  obedience 
shall  be  fulfilled.'— 2  Cor.  x.  5  and  6  (R.V.). 

None  of  Paul's  letters  are  so  full  of  personal  feeling 
as  this  one  is.  It  is  written,  for  the  most  part,  at  a 
white  heat ;  he  had  heard  from  his  trusted  Titus  tidings 
which  on  one  hand  filled  him  with  a  thankfulness  of 
which  the  first  half  of  the  letter  is  the  expression ;  but 
there  had  also  been  tidings  of  a  very  diflPerent  kind, 
and  from  this  point  onwards  the  letter  is  seething  with 
the  feelings  which  these  had  produced.  There  was  in 
the  Corinthian  Church  a  party,  probably  Judaisers, 
which  denied  his  authority  and  said  bitter  things  about 
his  character.  They  apparently  had  contrasted  the 
force  of  his  letters  and  the  feebleness  of  his  'bodily 
presence '  and  speech.  They  insinuated  that  his  *  bark 
was  worse  than  his  bite.'  Their  language  put  into 
plain  English  would  be  something  like  this,  '  Ah  !  He 
is  very  bold  at  a  distance,  let  him  come  and  face  us 
and  we  shall  see  a  difference.  Vapouring  in  his  letters, 
he  will  be  meek  enough  when  he  is  here.' 

These  slanderers  seem  to  have  thought  of  Paul  as  if 
he  '  warred  according  to  flesh,'  and  it  is  this  charge, 
that  he  was  actuated  in  his  opposition  to  the  evils  in 
Corinth  by  selfish  considerations  and  worldly  interests, 
which  seems  to  have  set  the  Apostle  on  fire.  In  answer 
he  pours  out  quick,  indignant  questionings,  sharp  irony, 
vehement  self-vindication,  passionate  remonstrances, 
flashes  of  wrath,  sudden  jets  of  tenderness.  What  a 
position  for  him  to  have  to  say,  '  I  am  not  a  low 
schemer ;  I  am  not  working  for  myself.'  Yet  it  is  the 
common  lot  of  all  such  men  to  be  misread  by  little. 


58  II.  CORINTHIANS  [ch.  x. 

crawling  creatures  who  cannot  believe  in  heroic  self- 
forgetfulnes8.  He  answers  the  taunt  that  he  'walked 
according  to  the  flesh '  in  the  context  by  saying,  *  Yes, 
I  live  in  the  flesh,  my  outward  life  is  like  that  of  other 
men,  but  I  do  not  go  a-soldiering  according  to  the  flesh. 
It  is  not  for  my  own  sinful  self  that  I  get  the  rules  of 
my  life's  battle,  neither  do  I  get  my  weapons  from  the 
flesh.  They  could  not  do  what  they  do  if  that  were  their 
origin :  they  are  of  God  and  therefore  mighty.'  Then 
the  metaphor  as  it  were  catches  fire,  and  in  our  text 
he  expands  the  figure  of  a  warfare  and  sets  before  us 
the  destruction  of  fortresses,  the  capture  of  their 
garrisons,  and  the  leading  of  them  away  into  another 
land,  the  stern  punishment  of  the  rebels  who  still  hold 
out,  and  the  merciful  delay  in  administering  it.  It  has 
been  suggested  that  there  is  an  allusion  in  our  text  to 
the  extermination  of  the  pirates  in  Paul's  native  Cilicia 
which  happened  some  fifty  or  sixty  years  before  his 
birth  and  ended  in  destroying  their  robber-holds  and 
taking  some  thousands  of  prisoners.  Whether  that  be 
so  or  no,  the  Apostle's  kindled  imagination  sets  forth 
here  great  truths  as  to  the  effects  which  his  message  is 
meant  to  produce  and,  thank  God,  has  produced. 

I.  The  opposing  fortresses. 

The  Apostle  conceives  of  himself  and  of  his  brother 
preachers  of  Christ  as  going  forth  on  a  merciful  war- 
fare. He  thinks  of  strong  rock  fortresses,  with  lofty 
walls  set  on  high,  and  frowning  down  on  any  assailants. 
No  doubt  he  is  thinking  first  of  the  opposition  which 
he  had  to  front  in  Corinth  from  the  Judaisers  to  whom 
we  have  referred,  but  the  application  of  the  metaphor 
goes  far  beyond  the  petty  strife  in  Corinth  and  carries 
for  us  the  wholesome  lesson  that  one  main  cause  which 
keeps  men  back  from  Christ  is  a  too  high  estimate  of 


vs.  5, 6]         A  MILITANT  MESSAGE  59 

themselves.  Some  of  us  are  enclosed  in  the  fortress  of 
self-sufficiency:  we  will  not  humbly  acknowledge  our 
dependence  on  God,  and  have  turned  self-reliance  into 
the  law  of  our  lives.  There  are  many  voices,  some  of 
them  sweet  and  powerful,  which  to-day  are  preaching 
that  gospel.  It  finds  eager  response  in  many  hearts, 
and  there  is  something  in  us  all  to  which  it  appeals. 
We  are  often  tempted  to  say  defiantly,  '  Who  is  Lord 
over  us  ? '  And  the  teaching  that  bids  us  rely  on  our- 
selves is  so  wholly  in  accord  with  the  highest  wisdom 
and  the  noblest  life  that  what  is  good  and  what  is  evil 
in  each  of  us  contribute  to  reinforce  it.  Self-depend- 
ence is  a  great  virtue,  and  the  mother  of  much  energy 
and  nobleness,  but  it  is  also  a  great  error  and  a  great 
sin.  To  be  so  self-sufficing  as  not  to  need  externals  is 
good;  to  be  so  self-sufficing  as  not  to  need  or  to  see 
God  is  ruin  and  death.  The  title  which,  as  one  of  our 
great  thinkers  tells  us,  a  humourist  put  on  the  back  of 
a  volume  of  heterodox  tracts,  'Every  man  his  own 
redeemer,'  makes  a  claim  for  self-sufficiency  which 
more  or  less  unconsciously  shuts  out  many  men  from 
the  salvation  of  Christ. 

There  is  the  fortress  of  culture  and  the  pride  of  it  in 
which  many  of  us  are  to-day  entrenched  against  the 
Gospel.  The  attitude  of  mind  into  which  persons  of 
culture  tend  to  fall  is  distinctly  adverse  to  their  recep- 
tion of  the  Gospel,  and  that  is  not  because  the  Gospel 
is  adverse  to  culture,  but  because  cultured  people  do 
not  care  to  be  put  on  the  same  level  with  publicans 
and  harlots.  They  would  be  less  disinclined  to  go  into 
the  feast  if  there  were  in  it  reserved  seats  for  superior 
people  and  a  private  entrace  to  them.  If  the  wise  and 
prudent  were  more  of  both,  they  would  be  liker  the 
babes  to  whom  these  things  are  revealed,  and  they 


60  II.  CORINTHIANS  [ch.x. 

would  be  revealed  to  them  too.  Not  knowledge  but 
the  superciliousness  which  is  the  result  of  the  conceit 
of  knowledge  hinders  from  God,  and  is  one  of  the 
strongest  fortresses  against  which  the  weapons  of  our 
warfare  have  to  be  employed. 

There  is  the  fortress  of  ignorance.  Most  men  who 
are  kept  from  Christ  are  so  because  they  know  neither 
themselves  nor  God.  The  most  widely  prevailing 
characteristic  of  the  superficial  life  of  most  men  is 
their  absolute  unconsciousness  of  the  fact  of  sin  ;  they 
neither  know  it  as  universal  nor  as  personal.  They 
have  never  gone  deeply  enough  down  into  the  depths 
of  their  own  hearts  to  have  come  up  scared  at  the 
ugly  things  that  lie  sleeping  there,  nor  have  they  ever 
reflected  on  their  own  conduct  with  sufficient  gravity 
to  discern  its  aberrations  from  the  law  of  right,  hence 
the  average  man  is  quite  unconscious  of  sin,  and  is  a 
complete  stranger  to  himself.  The  cup  has  been  drunk 
by  and  intoxicated  the  world,  and  the  masses  of  men 
are  quite  unaware  that  it  has  intoxicated  them. 

They  are  ignorant  of  God  as  they  are  of  themselves, 
and  if  at  any  time,  by  some  flash  of  light,  they  see 
themselves  as  they  are,  they  think  of  God  as  if  He  were 
altogether  such  an  one  as  themselves,  and  fall  back  on 
a  vague  trust  in  the  vaguer  mercy  of  their  half-believed- 
in  God  as  their  hope  for  a  vague  salvation.  Men  who 
thus  walk  in  a  vain  show  will  never  feel  their  need  of 
Jesus,  and  the  lazy  ignorance  of  themselves  and  the 
as  lazy  trust  in  what  they  call  their  God,  are  a  fortress 
against  which  it  will  task  the  power  of  God  to  make 
any  weapons  of  warfare  mighty  to  its  pulling  down. 

II.  The  casting  down  of  fortresses. 

The  first  effect  of  any  real  contact  with  Christ  and 
His  Gospel  is  to  reveal  a  man  to  himself,  to  shatter  his 


vs.  6, 6]        A  MILITANT  MESSAGE  61 

delusive  estimates  of  what  he  is,  and  to  pull  down 
about  his  ears  the  lofty  fortress  in  which  he  has 
ensconced  himself.  It  seems  strange  work  for  what 
calls  itself  a  Gospel  to  begin  by  forcing  a  man  to  cry 
out  with  sobs  and  tears,  Oh,  wretched  man  that  I  am ! 
But  no  man  will  ever  reach  the  heights  to  which  Christ 
can  lift  him,  who  does  not  begin  his  upward  course  by 
descending  to  the  depths  into  which  Christ's  Gospel 
begins  its  work  by  plunging  him.  Unconsciousness  of 
sin  is  sure  to  lead  to  indifference  to  a  Saviour,  and 
unless  we  know  ourselves  to  be  miserable  and  poor  and 
blind  and  naked,  the  offer  of  gold  refined  by  fire  and 
white  garments  that  we  may  clothe  ourselves  will 
make  no  appeal  to  us.  The  fact  of  sin  makes  the  need 
for  a  Saviour ;  our  individual  sense  of  sin  makes  us 
sensible  of  our  need  of  a  Saviour. 

Paul  believed  that  the  weapons  of  his  warfare  were 
mighty  enough  to  cast  down  the  strongest  of  all 
strongholds  in  which  men  shut  themselves  up  against 
the  humbling  Gospel  of  salvation  by  the  mercy  of  God. 
The  weapons  to  which  he  thus  trusted  were  the  same 
to  which  Jesus  pointed  His  disciples  when,  about  to 
leave  them,  He  said,  '  When  the  Comforter  is  come  He 
will  convict  the  world  of  sin  because  they  believe  not 
in  Me.'  Jesus  brought  to  the  world  the  perfect  revela- 
tion of  the  holiness  of  God,  and  set  before  us  all  a 
divine  pattern  of  manhood  to  rebuke  and  condemn  our 
stained  and  rebellious  lives,  and  He  turned  us  away 
from  the  superficial  estimate  of  actions  to  the  careful 
scrutiny  of  motives.  By  all  these  and  many  other 
ways  He  presented  Himself  to  the  world  a  perfect  man, 
the  incarnation  of  a  holy  God  and  the  revelation  and 
condemnation  of  sinful  humanity.  Yet,  all  that  miracle 
of  loveliness,  gentleness,  and  dignity  is  beheld  by  men 


62  II.  CORINTHIANS  [ch.  x. 

without  a  thrill,  and  they  see  in  Him  no  'beauty  that 
they  should  desire  Him,'  and  no  healing  to  which  they 
will  trust.  Paul's  way  of  kindling  penitence  in  im- 
penitent spirits  was  not  to  brandish  over  them  the 
whips  of  law  or  to  seek  to  shake  souls  with  terror  of 
any  hell,  still  less  was  it  to  discourse  with  philosophic 
calm  on  the  obligations  of  duty  and  the  wisdom  of 
virtuous  living ;  his  appeal  to  conscience  was  primarily 
the  pressing  on  the  heart  of  the  love  of  God  in  Christ 
Jesus  our  Lord.  When  the  heart  is  melted,  the  con- 
science will  not  long  continue  indurated.  We  cannot 
look  lovingly  and  believingly  at  Jesus  and  then  turn 
to  look  complacently  on  ourselves.  Not  to  believe  on 
Him  is  the  sin  of  sins,  and  to  be  taught  that  it  is  so  is 
the  first  step  in  the  work  of  Him  who  never  merits  the 
name  of  the  Comforter  more  truly  than  when  He  con- 
victs the  world  of  sin. 

For  a  Christianity  that  does  not  begin  with  the  deep 
consciousness  of  sin  has  neither  depth  nor  warmth  and 
has  scarcely  vitality.  The  Gospel  is  no  Gospel,  and  we 
had  almost  said, '  The  Christ  is  no  Christ '  to  one  who 
does  not  feel  himself,  if  parted  from  Christ,  '  dead  in 
trespasses  and  sins.'  Our  religion  depends  for  all  its 
force,  our  gratitude  and  love  for  all  their  devotion, 
upon  our  sense  that  'the  chastisement  of  our  peace 
was  laid  upon  Him,  and  that  by  His  stripes  we  are 
healed.'  Since  He  gave  Himself  for  us,  it  is  meet  that 
we  give  ourselves  to  Him,  but  there  will  be  little 
fervour  of  devotion  or  self-surrender,  unless  there  has 
been  first  the  consciousness  of  the  death  of  sin  and 
then  the  joyous  consciousness  of  newness  of  life  in 
Christ  Jesus. 

III.  The  captives  led  away  to  another  land. 

The  Apostle  carries  on  his  metaphor  one  step  further 


vs.  5, 6]        A  MILITANT  MESSAGE  63 

when  he  goes  on  to  describe  what  followed  the  casting 
down  of  the  fortresses.  The  enemy,  driven  from  their 
strongholds,  have  nothing  for  it  but  to  surrender  and 
are  led  away  in  captivity  to  another  land.  The  long 
strings  of  prisoners  on  Assyrian  and  Egyptian  monu- 
ments show  how  familiar  an  experience  this  was.  It 
may  be  noted  that  perhaps  our  text  regards  the 
Dbedience  of  Christ  as  being  the  far  country  into 
which  'every  thought  was  to  be  brought.'  At  all 
events  Paul's  idea  here  is  that  the  end  of  the  whole 
struggle  between  *  the  flesh '  and  the  weapons  of  God 
is  to  make  men  willing  captives  of  Jesus  Christ.  We 
are  Christians  in  the  measure  in  which  we  surrender 
our  wills  to  Christ.  That  surrender  rests  upon,  and  is 
our  only  adequate  answer  to,  His  surrender  for  us. 
The  'obedience  of  Christ'  is  perfect  freedom;  His 
captives  wear  no  chains  and  know  nothing  of  forced 
service ;  His  yoke  is  easy,  not  because  it  does  not  press 
hard  upon  the  neck  but  because  it  is  lined  with  love, 
and  '  His  burden  is  light '  not  because  of  its  own  weight 
but  because  it  is  laid  on  us  by  love  and  is  carried  by 
kindred  love.  He  only  commands  himself  who  gladly 
lets  Christ  command  him.  Many  a  hard  task  becomes 
easy;  crooked  things  are  straightened  out  and  rough 
places  often  made  surprisingly  plain  for  the  captives 
of  Christ,  whom  He  leads  into  the  liberty  of  obedience 
to  Him. 

IV.  Fate  of  the  disobedient. 

Paul  thinks  that  in  Corinth  there  will  be  found  some 
stiff-necked  opponents  of  whom  he  cannot  hope  that 
their  'obedience  shall  be  fulfilled,'  and  he  sees  in  the 
double  issue  of  the  small  struggle  that  was  being 
waged  in  Corinth  a  parable  of  the  wider  results  of  the 
warfare  in  the  world.  '  Some  believed  and  some  believed 


64  II.  CORINTHIANS  [ch.x. 

not ' ;  that  has  been  the  brief  summary  of  the  experi- 
ence of  all  God's  messengers  everywhere,  and  it  is  their 
experience  to-day.  No  doubt  when  Paul  speaks  of 
'being  in  readiness  to  avenge  all  disobedience,'  he  is 
alluding  to  the  exercise  of  his  apostolic  authority 
against  the  obdurate  antagonists  whom  he  contem- 
plates as  still  remaining  obdurate,  and  it  is  beautiful 
to  note  the  long-suffering  patience  with  which  he  will 
hold  his  hand  until  all  that  can  be  won  has  been  won. 
But  we  must  not  forget  that  Paul's  demeanour  is  but  a 
faint  shadow  of  his  Lord's,  and  that  the  weapons  which 
were  ready  to  avenge  all  disobedience  were  the  weapons 
of  God.  If  a  man  steels  himself  against  the  efforts  of 
divine  love,  builds  up  round  himself  a  fortress  of  self- 
righteousness  and  locks  its  gates  against  the  merciful 
entrance  of  convictions  of  sin  and  the  knowledge  of  a 
Saviour,  and  if  he  therefore  lives,  year  in,  year  out,  in 
disobedience,  the  weapons  which  he  thinks  himself  to 
have  resisted  will  one  day  make  him  feel  their  edge. 
We  cannot  set  ourselves  against  the  salvation  of  Jesus 
without  bringing  upon  ourselves  consequences  which 
are  wholly  evil  and  harmful.  Torpid  consciences, 
hungry  hearts,  stormy  wills,  tyrannous  desires,  vain 
hopes  and  not  vain  fears  come  to  be,  by  slow  degrees, 
the  tortures  of  the  man  who  drops  the  portcullis  and 
lifts  the  bridge  against  the  entrance  of  Jesus.  There 
are  hells  enough  on  earth  if  men's  hearts  were  dis- 
played. 

But  the  love  which  is  obliged  to  smite  gives  warning 
that  it  is  ready  to  avenge,  long  before  it  lets  the  blow 
fall,  and  does  so  in  order  that  it  may  never  need  to  fall. 
As  long  as  it  is  possible  that  the  disobedient  shall 
become  obedient  to  Christ,  He  holds  back  the  venge- 
ance that  is  ready  to  fall  and  will  one  day  fall '  on  all 


rs.6,6]  SIMPLICITY  TOWARDS  CHRIST  65 

disobedience.'  Not  till  all  other  means  have  been 
patiently  tried  will  He  let  that  terrible  ending  crash 
down.  It  hangs  over  the  heads  of  many  of  us  who  are 
all  unaware  that  we  walk  beneath  the  shadow  of  a 
rock  that  at  any  moment  may  be  set  in  motion  and 
bury  us  beneath  its  weight.  It  is  *  in  readiness,'  but  it 
is  still  at  rest.  Let  us  be  wise  in  time  and  yield  to  the 
merciful  weapons  with  which  Jesus  would  make  His 
way  into  our  hearts.  Or  if  the  metaphor  of  our  text 
presents  Him  in  too  warlike  a  guise,  let  us  listen  to 
His  own  gentle  pleading,  '  Behold,  I  stand  at  the  door 
and  knock ;  if  any  man  hear  My  voice,  and  open  the 
door,  I  will  come  in  to  him.' 

SIMPLICITY  TOWARDS  CHRIST 

'  But  I  fear,  lest  by  any  means,  as  the  serpent  beguiled  Eve  through  his  subtilty, 
so  your  minds  should  be  corrupted  from  the  simplicity  that  is  in  Christ.— 2  Cor. 
xi.  3. 

The  Revised  Version,  amongst  other  alterations,  reads, 
'  the  simplicity  that  is  towards  Christ.' 

The  inaccurate  rendering  of  the  Authorised  Version 
is  responsible  for  a  mistake  in  the  meaning  of  these 
words,  which  has  done  much  harm.  They  have  been 
supposed  to  describe  a  quality  or  characteristic  belong- 
ing to  Christ  or  the  Gospel;  and,  so  construed,  they 
have  sometimes  been  made  the  watchword  of  narrow- 
ness and  of  intellectual  indolence.  '  Give  us  the  simple 
Gospel'  has  been  the  cry  of  people  who  have  thought 
themselves  to  be  evangelical  when  they  w^ere  only  lazy, 
and  the  consequence  has  been  that  preachers  have  been 
expected  to  reiterate  commonplaces,  which  have  made 
both  them  and  their  hearers  listless,  and  to  sink  the 
educational  for  the  evangelistic  aspect  of  the  Christian 
teacher's  function. 

B 


66  II.  CORINTHIANS  [ch.  xi. 

It  is  quite  true  that  the  Gospel  is  simple,  but  it  is  also 
true  that  it  is  deep,  and  they  will  best  appreciate  its 
simplicity  who  have  m.ost  honestly  endeavoured  to 
fathom  its  depth.  When  we  let  our  little  sounding 
lines  out,  and  find  that  they  do  not  reach  the  bottom, 
we  begin  to  wonder  even  more  at  the  transparency  of 
the  clear  abyss.  It  is  not  simplicity  in  Christ,  but 
toivards  Christ  of  which  the  Apostle  is  speaking  ;  not  a 
quality  in  Him,  but  a  quality  in  us  towards  Him.  I 
wish,  then,  to  turn  to  the  two  thoughts  that  these 
words  suggest.  First  and  chiefly,  the  attitude  towards 
Christ  which  befits  our  relation  to  Him  ;  and,  secondly 
and  briefly,  the  solicitude  for  its  maintenance. 

I.  First,  then,  look  at  the  attitude  towards  Christ 
which  befits  the  Christian  relation  to  Him. 

The  word  '  simplicity '  has  had  a  touch  of  contempt 
associated  with  it.  It  is  a  somewhat  doubtful  compli- 
ment to  say  of  a  man  that  he  is  '  simple-minded.'  All 
noble  words  which  describe  great  qualities  get  oxidised 
by  exposure  to  the  atmosphere,  and  rust  comes  over 
them,  as  indeed  all  good  things  tend  to  become  deterio- 
rated in  time  and  by  use.  But  the  notion  of  the  word 
is  really  a  very  noble  and  lofty  one.  To  be  '  without  a 
fold,'  which  is  the  meaning  of  the  Greek  word  and  of  its 
equivalent  'simplicity,'  is,  in  one  aspect,  to  be  trans- 
parently honest  and  true,  and  in  another  to  be  out  and 
out  of  a  piece.  There  is  no  underside  of  the  cloth, 
doubled  up  beneath  the  upper  which  shows,  and  run- 
ning in  the  opposite  direction ;  but  all  tends  in  one  way. 
A  man  with  no  under-currents,  no  by-ends,  who  is 
down  to  the  very  roots  what  he  looks,  and  all  whose 
being  is  knit  together  and  hurled  in  one  direction, 
without  reservation  or  back-drawing,  that  is  the 
'  simple '  man  whom  the  Apostle  means.    Such  sim- 


▼.3]    SIMPLICITY  TOWARDS  CHRIST      67 

pHcity  is  the  truest  wisdom  ;  such  simplicity  of  devotion 
to  Jesus  Christ  is  the  only  attitude  of  heart  and  mind 
which  corresponds  to  the  facts  of  our  relation  to  Him. 
That  relation  is  set  forth  in  the  context  by  a  very 
sweet  and  tender  image,  in  the  true  line  of  scriptural 
teaching,  which  in  many  a  place  speaks  of  the  Bride 
and  Bridegroom,  and  which  on  its  last  page  shows  us 
the  Lamb's  wife  descending  from  Heaven  to  meet  her 
husband.  The  state  of  devout  souls  and  of  the  com- 
munity of  such  here  on  earth  is  that  of  betrothal. 
Their  state  in  heaven  is  that  of  marriage.  Very  beauti- 
ful it  is  to  see  how  this  fiery  Paul,  like  the  ascetic 
John,  who  never  knew  the  sacred  joys  of  that  state, 
lays  hold  of  the  thought  of  the  Bridegroom  and  the 
Bride,  and  of  his  individual  relation  to  both  as  indi- 
cating the  duties  of  the  Church  and  the  solicitude  of 
the  Apostle.  He  says  that  he  has  been  the  inter- 
mediary who,  according  to  Oriental  custom,  arranged 
the  preliminaries  of  the  marriage,  and  brought  the 
bride  to  the  bridegroom,  and,  as  the  friend  of  the  latter, 
standing  by  rejoices  greatly  to  hear  the  bridegroom's 
voice,  and  is  solicitous  mainly  that  in  the  tremulous 
heart  of  the  betrothed  there  should  be  no  admixture  of 
other  loves,  but  a  whole-hearted  devotion,  an  exclusive 
affection,  and  an  absolute  obedience.  *  I  have  espoused 
you,'  says  he,  '  to  one  husband  that  I  may  present  you 
as  a  chaste  virgin  to  Christ.  But  I  fear  lest  ...  your 
mind  should  be  corrupted  from  the  simplicity  that  is 
towards  Him.* 

Now  that  metaphor  carries  in  its  implication  all  that 
anybody  can  say  about  the  exclusiveness,  the  depth, 
the  purity,  the  all-pervasiveness  of  the  dependent  love 
which  should  knit  us  to  Jesus  Christ.  The  same  thought 
of  whole-hearted,  single,  absolute  devotion  is  conveyed 


68  II.  CORINTHIANS  [ch.xi. 

by  other  Scripture  metaphors,  the  slave  and  the  soldier 
of  Christ.  But  all  that  is  repellent  or  harsh  in  these  is 
softened  and  glorified  when  we  contemplate  it  in  the 
light  of  the  metaphor  of  my  text. 

So  I  might  leave  it  to  do  its  own  work,  but  I  may 
perhaps  be  allowed  to  follow  out  the  thought  in  one  or 
two  directions. 

The  attitude,  then,  which  corresponds  to  our  relation 
to  Jesus  Christ  is  that,  first,  of  a  faith  which  looks  to 
Him  exclusively  as  the  source  of  salvation  and  of  light. 
The  specific  danger  which  was  alarming  Paul,  in  refer- 
ence to  that  little  community  of  Christians  in  Corinth, 
was  one  which,  in  its  particular  form,  is  long  since  dead 
and  buried.  But  the  principles  which  underlay  it,  the 
tendencies  to  which  it  appealed,  and  the  perils  which 
alarmed  Paul  for  the  Corinthian  Church,  are  perennial. 
He  feared  that  these  Judaising  teachers,  who  dogged 
his  heels  all  his  life  long,  and  whose  one  aim  seemed  to 
be  to  build  upon  his  foundation  and  to  overthrow  his 
building,  should  find  their  way  into  this  church  and 
wreck  it.  The  keenness  of  the  polemic,  in  this  and  in 
the  contextual  chapters,  shows  how  real  and  imminent 
the  danger  was.  Now  what  they  did  was  to  tell  people 
that  .Jesus  Christ  had  a  partner  in  His  saving  work. 
They  said  that  obedience  to  the  Jewish  law,  ceremonial 
and  other,  was  a  condition  of  salvation,  along  with 
trust  in  Jesus  Christ  as  the  Messiah.  And  because  they 
thus  shared  out  the  work  of  salvation  between  Jesus 
Christ  and  something  else,  Paul  thundered  and  light- 
ened at  them  all  his  life,  and,  as  he  tells  us  in  this 
context,  regarded  them  as  preaching  another  Jesus, 
another  spirit,  and  another  gospel.  That  particular 
error  is  long  dead  and  buried. 

But  is  there  nothing  else  that  has  come  into  its  place  ? 


▼.8]    SIMPLICITY  TOWARDS  CHRIST      69 

Has  this  old  foe  not  got  a  new  face,  and  does  not  it  live 
amongst  us  as  really  as  it  lived  then  ?  I  think  it  does ; 
whether  in  the  form  of  the  grosser  kind  of  sacrament- 
arianism  and  ecclesiasticism  which  sticks  sacraments 
and  a  church  in  front  of  the  Cross,  or  in  the  form  of 
the  definite  denial  that  Jesus  Christ's  death  on  the 
Cross  is  the  one  means  of  salvation,  or  simply  in  the 
form  of  the  coarse,  common  wish  to  have  a  finger  in 
the  pie  and  a  share  in  the  work  of  saving  oneself,  as  a 
drowning  man  will  sometimes  half  drown  his  rescuer 
by  trying  to  use  his  own  limbs.  These  tendencies  that 
Paul  fought,  and  which  he  feared  would  corrupt  the 
Corinthians  from  their  simple  and  exclusive  reliance  on 
Christ,  and  Christ  alone,  as  the  ground  and  author  of 
their  salvation,  are  perennial  in  human  nature,  and 
we  have  to  be  on  our  guard  for  ever  and  for  ever 
against  them.  Whether  they  come  in  organised,  sys- 
tematic, doctrinal  form,  or  whether  they  are  simply  the 
rising  in  our  own  hearts  of  the  old  Adam  of  pride  and 
self-trust,  they  equally  destroy  the  whole  work  of 
Christ,  because  they  infringe  upon  its  solitariness  and 
uniqueness.  It  is  not  Christ  and  anything  else.  Men 
are  not  saved  by  a  syndicate.  It  is  Jesus  Christ  alone, 
and  •  beside  Him  there  is  no  Saviour.'  You  go  into  a 
Turkish  mosque  and  see  the  roof  held  up  by  a  forest 
of  slim  pillars.  You  go  into  a  cathedral  chapter- 
house and  see  one  strong  support  in  the  centre  that 
bears  the  whole  roof.  The  one  is  an  emblem  of  the 
Christless  multiplicity  of  vain  supports,  the  other  of 
the  solitary  strength  and  eternal  sufficiency  of  the  one 
Pillar  on  which  the  whole  weight  of  a  world's  salvation 
rests,  and  which  lightly  bears  it  triumphantly  aloft. 
*  I  fear  lest  your  minds  be  corrupted  from  the  simplicity ' 
of  a  reasonable  faith  directed  towards  Christ. 


70  II.  CORINTHIANS  [ch.xl 

And  in  like  manner  He  is  the  sole  light  and  teacher 
of  men  as  to  God,  themselves,  their  duty,  their  destinies 
and  prospects.  He,  and  He  alone,  brings  these  things 
to  light.  His  word,  whether  it  comes  from  His  lips  or 
from  the  deeds  which  are  part  of  His  revelation,  or 
from  the  voice  of  the  Spirit  which  takes  of  His  and 
speaks  to  the  ages  through  His  apostles,  should  be  '  the 
end  of  all  strife.'  What  He  says,  and  all  that  He  says, 
and  nothing  else  than  what  He  says,  is  the  creed  of  the 
Christian.  He,  and  He  only,  is  '  the  light  which  lighteth 
every  man  that  cometh  into  the  world.'  In  this  day  of 
babblements  and  confusions,  let  us  listen  for  the  voice 
of  Christ  and  accept  all  which  comes  from  Him,  and  let 
the  language  of  our  deepest  hearts  be,  *  Lord,  to  whom 
shall  we  go?  Thou  only  hast  the  words  of  eternal 
life.' 

Again,  our  relation  to  Jesus  Christ  demands  exclusive 
love  to  Him.  *  Demands '  is  an  ugly  word  to  bracket 
with  love.  We  might  say,  and  perhaps  more  truly, 
permits  or  privileges.  It  is  the  joy  of  the  betrothed 
that  her  duty  is  to  love,  and  to  keep  her  heart  clear 
from  all  competing  affections.  But  it  is  none  the  less 
her  duty  because  it  is  her  joy.  What  Christ  is  to  you, 
if  you  are  a  Christian,  and  what  He  longs  to  be  to  us 
all,  whether  we  are  Christians  or  not,  is  of  such  a 
character  as  that  the  only  fitting  attitude  of  our  hearts 
to  Him  in  response  is  that  of  exclusive  affection.  I  do 
not  mean  that  we  are  to  love  nothing  but  Him,  but  I 
mean  that  we  are  to  love  all  things  else  in  Him,  and 
that,  if  any  creature  so  delays  or  deflects  our  love  as 
that  either  it  does  not  pass,  by  means  of  the  creature, 
into  the  presence  of  the  Christ,  or  is  turned  away  from 
the  Christ  by  the  creature,  then  we  have  fallen  beneath 
the  sweet  level  of  our  lofty  privilege,  and  have  won  for 


r.8]   SIMPLICITY  TOWARDS  CHRIST      71 

ourselves  the  misery  due  to  distracted  and  idolatrous 
hearts.  Love  to  one  who  has  done  what  He  has  done 
for  us  is  in  its  very  nature  exclusive,  and  its  exclusive- 
ness  is  all-pervasive  exclusiveness.  The  centre  diamond 
makes  the  little  stones  set  round  it  all  the  more  lus- 
trous. "We  must  love  Jesus  Christ  all  in  all  or  not  at 
all.  Divided  love  incurs  the  condemnation  that  falls 
heavily  upon  the  head  of  the  faithless  bride. 

Dear  friends,  the  conception  of  the  essence  of  religion 
as  being  love  is  no  relaxation,  but  an  increase,  of  its 
stringent  requirements.  The  more  we  think  of  that 
sweet  bond  as  being  the  true  union  of  the  soul  with 
God,  who  is  its  only  rest  and  home,  the  more  reasonable 
and  imperative  will  appear  the  old  commandment, 
'  Thou  shalt  love  Him  with  all  thy  heart,  and  soul,  and 
strength,  and  mind.* 

But,  further,  our  relation  to  Jesus  Christ  is  such  as 
that  nothing  short  of  absolute  obedience  to  His  com- 
mandment corresponds  to  it.  There  must  be  the  sim- 
plicity, the  single-mindedness  that  thus  obeys,  obeys 
swiftly,  cheerfully,  constantly.  In  all  matters  His 
command  is  my  law,  and,  as  surely  as  I  make  His 
command  my  law,  will  He  make  my  desire  His  motive. 
For  He  Himself  has  said,  in  words  that  bring  together 
our  obedience  to  His  will  and  His  compliance  with 
our  wishes,  in  a  fashion  that  we  should  not  have  ven- 
tured upon  unless  He  had  set  us  an  example,  '  If  ye 
love  Me,  keep  My  commandments.  If  ye  ask  anything 
in  My  name  I  will  do  it.'  The  exclusive  love  that  binds 
us,  by  reason  of  our  faith  in  Him  alone,  to  that  Lord 
ought  to  express  itself  in  unhesitating,  unfaltering, 
unreserved,  and  unreluctant  obedience  to  every  word 
that  comes  from  His  mouth. 

These  brief  outlines  are  but  the  poorest  attempt  to 


72  II.  CORINTHIANS  [ch.xl 

draw  out  what  the  words  of  my  text  imply.  But  such 
as  they  are,  let  us  remember  that  they  do  set  forth  the 
only  proper  response  of  the  saved  man  to  the  saving 
Christ.  *Ye  cannot  serve  God  and  Mammon.'  Any- 
thing short  of  a  faith  that  rests  on  Him  alone,  of  a  love 
that  knits  itself  to  His  single,  all-suifficient  heart,  and 
of  an  obedience  that  bows  the  whole  being  to  the  sweet 
yoke  of  His  commandment  is  an  unworthy  answer  to 
the  Love  that  died,  and  that  lives  for  us  all. 

II.  And  now  I  have  only  time  to  glance  at  the  solici- 
tude for  the  maintenance  of  this  exclusive  single- 
mindedness  towards  Christ. 

Think  of  what  threatens  it.  I  say  nothing  about  the 
ferment  of  opinion  in  this  day,  for  for  one  man  that 
is  swept  aw^ay  from  a  thorough  whole-hearted  faith  by 
intellectual  considerations,  there  are  a  dozen  from 
whom  it  is  filched  without  their  knowing  it,  by  their 
own  weaknesses  and  the  world's  noises.  And  so  it  is 
more  profitable  that  we  should  think  of  the  whole 
crowd  of  external  duties,  enjoyments,  sweetnesses, 
bitternesses,  that  solicit  us,  and  would  seek  to  draw  us 
away.  Who  can  hear  the  low  voice  that  speaks  peace 
and  wisdom  when  Niagara  is  roaring  past  his  ears? 
'  The  world  is  too  much  with  us,  late  and  soon.  Buying 
and  selling  we  lay  waste  our  powers,'  and  break  our- 
selves away  from  our  simple  devotion  to  that  dear 
Lord.  But  it  is  possible  that  we  may  so  carry  into  all 
the  whirl  the  central  peace,  as  that  we  shall  not  be 
disturbed  by  it ;  and  possible  that '  whether  we  eat  or 
drink,  or  whatsoever  we  do,  we  may  do  all  to  His  glory,' 
so  that  we  can,  even  in  the  midst  of  our  daily  pressing 
avocations  and  cares  be  keeping  our  hearts  in  the 
heavens,  and  our  souls  in  touch  with  our  Lord. 

But  it  is  not  only  things  without  that  draw  us  away. 


V.8]    SIMPLICITY  TOWARDS  CHRIST      73 

Our  own  weaknesses  and  waywardnesses,  our  strong 
senses,  our  passions,  our  desires,  our  necessities,  all 
these  have  a  counteracting  force,  which  needs  continual 
watchfulness  in  order  to  be  neutralised.  No  man  can 
grasp  a  stay,  which  alone  keeps  him  from  being  im- 
mersed in  the  waves,  with  uniform  tenacity,  unless 
every  now  and  then  he  tightens  his  muscles.  And  no 
man  can  keep  himself  firmly  grasping  Jesus  Christ- 
without  conscious  effort  directed  to  bettering  his  hold. 

If  there  be  dangers  around  us,  and  dangers  within 
us,  the  discipline  which  we  have  to  pursue  in  order  to 
secure  this  uniform,  single-hearted  devotion  is  plain 
enough.  Let  us  be  vividly  conscious  of  the  peril — which 
is  what  some  of  us  are  not.  Let  us  take  stock  of  our- 
selves lest  creeping  evil  may  be  encroaching  upon  us, 
while  we  are  all  unaware — which  is  what  some  of  us 
never  do.  Let  us  clearly  contemplate  the  possibility  of 
an  indefinite  increase  in  the  closeness  and  thorough- 
ness of  our  surrender  to  Him — a  conviction  which  has 
faded  away  from  the  minds  of  many  professing  Chris- 
tians. Above  all,  let  us  find  time  or  make  time  for  the 
patient,  habitual  contemplation  of  the  great  facts 
which  kindle  our  devotion.  For  if  you  never  think  of 
Jesus  Christ  and  His  love  to  you,  how  can  you  love 
Him  back  again  ?  And  if  you  are  so  busy  carrying 
out  your  own  secular  affairs,  or  pursuing  your  own 
ambitions,  or  attending  to  your  own  duties,  as  they 
may  seem  to  be,  that  you  have  no  time  to  think  of 
Christ,  His  death,  His  life.  His  Spirit,  His  yearning 
heart  over  His  bride,  how  can  it  be  expected  that  you 
will  have  any  depth  of  love  to  Him  ?  Let  us,  too,  wait 
with  prayerful  patience  for  that  Divine  Spirit  who  will 
knit  us  more  closely  to  our  Lord. 

Unless  we  do  so,  we  shall  get  no  happiness  out  of  our 


74  II.  CORINTHIANS  [ch.  xii. 

religion,  and  it  will  bring  no  praise  to  Christ  or  profit 
to  ourselves.  I  do  not  know  a  more  miserable  man 
than  a  half-and-half  Christian,  after  the  pattern  of,  I 
was  going  to  say,  the  ordinary  average  of  professing 
Christians  of  this  generation.  He  has  religion  enough 
to  prick  and  sting  him,  and  not  enough  to  impel  him 
to  forsake  the  evil  which  yet  he  cannot  comfortably 
do.  He  has  religion  enough  to  *  inflame  his  conscience,' 
not  enough  to  subdue  his  will  and  heart.  How  many 
of  my  hearers  are  in  that  condition  it  is  for  them  to 
settle.  If  we  are  to  be  Christian  men  at  all,  let  us  be  it 
out  and  out.    Half-and-half  religion  ^^  no  religion. 

*  One  foot  in  sea,  and  one  on  shore ; 
To  one  thing  constant  never  1 ' 

That  is  the  type  of  thousands  of  professing  Christians. 
'  I  fear  lest  by  any  means  your  minds  be  corrupted 
from  the  simplicity  that  is  towards  Christ.' 


STRENGTH  IN  WEAKNESS 

'For  this  thing  I  besought  the  Lord  thrice,  that  it  might  depart  from  me.  And 
He  said  unto  me,  My  grace  is  sufficient  for  thee ;  for  My  strength  is  made  perfect 
in  weakness.  Moat  gladly  therefore  will  I  rather  glory  in  my  infirmities,  that 
the  power  of  Christ  may  rest  upon  me.'— 2  Cob.  xii.  8,  9.; 

This  very  remarkable  page  in  the  autobiography  of 
the  Apostle  shows  us  that  he,  too,  belonged  to  the 
great  army  of  martyrs  who,  with  hearts  bleeding  and 
pierced  through  and  through  with  a  dart,  yet  did  their 
work  for  God.  It  is  of  little  consequence  what  his 
thorn  in  the  flesh  may  have  been.  The  original  word 
suggests  very  much  heavier  sorrow  than  the  metaphor 
of  •  a  thorn '  might  imply.  It  really  seems  to  mean, 
not  a  tiny  bit  of  thorn  that  might  lie  half  concealed  in 


vs.  8. 9]     STRENGTH  IN  WEAKNESS  75 

the  finger  tip,  but  one  of  those  hideous  stakes  on  which 
the  cruel  punishment  of  impalement  used  to  be  inflicted. 
And  Paul's  thought  is,  not  that  he  has  a  little,  trivial 
trouble  to  bear,  but  that  he  is,  as  it  were,  forced  quiver- 
ing upon  that  tremendous  torture 

Unquestionably,  what  he  means  is  some  bodily  ailment 
or  other.  The  hypothesis  that  the  '  thorn  in  the  flesh ' 
was  the  sting  of  the  animal  nature  inciting  him  to  evil 
is  altogether  untenable,  because  such  a  thorn  could 
never  have  been  left  when  the  prayer  for  its  removal 
was  earnestly  presented ;  nor  could  it  ever  have  been, 
when  left,  an  occasion  for  glorifying.  Manifestly  it 
was  no  weakness  removable  by  his  own  effort,  no 
incapacity  for  service  which  in  any  manner  approxi- 
mated to  being  a  fault,  but  purely  and  simply  some 
infliction  from  God's  hand  (though  likewise  capable  of 
being  regarded  as  a  '  messenger  of  Satan ')  which 
hindered  him  in  his  work,  and  took  down  any  proud 
flesh  and  danger  of  spiritual  exaltation  in  consequence 
of  the  largeness  of  his  religious  privileges. 

Our  text  sets  before  us  three  most  instructive  wind- 
ings, as  it  were,  of  the  stream  of  thoughts  that  passed 
through  the  Apostle's  mind,  in  reference  to  this  burden 
that  he  had  to  carry,  and  may  afford  wholesome  con- 
templation for  us  to-day.  There  is,  flrst,  the  instinctive 
shrinking  which  took  refuge  in  prayer.  Then  there  is 
the  insight  won  by  prayer  into  the  sustaining  strength 
for,  and  the  purposes  of,  the  thorn  that  was  not  to  be 
plucked  out.  And  then,  finally,  there  is  the  peace  of 
acquiescence,  and  a  will  that  accepts — not  the  inevit- 
able, but  the  loving 

I.  First  of  all  we  see  the  instinctive  shrinking  from 
that  which  tortured  the  flesh,  which  takes  refuge  in 
prayer. 


76  II.  CORINTHIANS  [ch.xii. 

There  is  a  wonderful,  a  beautiful,  and,  I  suppose,  an 
intentional  parallel  between  the  prayers  of  the  servant 
and  of  the  Master.  Paul's  petitions  are  the  echo  of 
Gethsemane.  There,  under  the  quivering  olives,  in  the 
broken  light  of  the  Paschal  moon,  Jesus  '  thrice '  prayed 
that  the  cup  might  pass  from  Him.  And  here  the 
servant,  emboldened  and  instructed  by  the  example  of 
the  Master,  'thrice'  reiterates  his  human  and  natural 
desire  for  the  removal  of  the  pain,  whatever  it  was, 
which  seemed  to  him  so  to  hinder  the  efficiency  and 
the  fulness,  as  it  certainly  did  the  joy,  of  his  service. 

But  He  who  prayed  in  Gethsemane  was  He  to  whom 
Paul  addressed  his  prayer.  For,  as  is  almost  always 
the  case  in  the  New  Testament,  '  the  Lord '  here 
evidently  means  Christ,  as  is  obvious  from  the  connec- 
tion of  the  answer  to  the  petition  with  the  Apostle's 
final  confidence  and  acquiescence.  For  the  answer  was, 
*  My  strength  is  made  perfect  in  weakness ' ;  and  the 
Apostle's  conclusion  is,  'Most  gladly  will  I  glorify  in 
infirmity,'  that  the  strength  or  '  power  of  Christ  may 
rest  upon  me.'  Therefore  the  prayer  with  which  we 
have  to  deal  here  is  a  prayer  offered  to  Jesus,  who 
prayed  in  Gethsemane,  and  to  whom  we  can  bring  our 
petitions  and  our  desires. 

Notice  how  this  thought  of  prayer  directed  to  the 
Master  Himself  helps  to  lead  us  deep  into  the  sacred  est 
and  most  blessed  characteristics  of  prayer.  It  is  only 
telling  Christ  what  is  in  our  hearts.  Oh,  if  we  lived  in 
the  true  understanding  of  what  prayer  really  is — the 
emptying  out  of  our  inmost  desire  and  thoughts  before 
our  Brother,  who  is  likewise  our  Lord — questions  as  to 
what  it  was  permissible  to  pray  for,  and  what  it  was 
not  permissible  to  pray  for,  would  be  irrelevant,  and 
drop  away  of  themselves.    If  we  had  a  less  formal 


vs.  8,  9]    STRENGTH  IN  WEAKNESS  77 

notion  of  prayer,  and  realised  more  thoroughly  what 
it  was — the  speech  of  a  confiding  heart  to  a  sympathis- 
ing Lord — then  everything  that  fills  our  hearts  would 
bo  seen  to  be  a  fitting  object  of  prayer.  If  anything  is 
large  enough  to  interest  me,  it  is  not  too  small  to  be 
spoken  about  to  Him. 

So  the  question,  which  is  often  settled  upon  very 
abstract  and  deep  grounds  that  have  little  to  do  with 
the  matter — the  question  as  to  whether  prayer  for 
outward  blessings  is  permissible — falls  away  of  itself. 
If  I  am  to  talk  to  Jesus  Christ  about  everything  that 
concerns  me,  am  I  to  keep  my  thumb  upon  all  that 
great  department  and  be  silent  about  it  ?  One  reason 
why  our  prayers  are  often  so  unreal  is,  because  they 
do  not  fit  our  real  wants,  nor  correspond  to  the 
thoughts  that  are  busy  in  our  minds  at  the  moment  of 
praying.  Our  hearts  are  full  of  some  small  matter  of 
daily  interest,  and  when  we  kneel  down  not  a  word 
about  it  comes  to  our  lips.     Can  that  be  right  ? 

The  difference  between  the  different  objects  of  prayer 
is  not  to  be  found  in  the  rejection  of  all  temporal  and 
external,  but  in  remembering  that  there  are  two  sets 
of  things  to  bo  prayed  about,  and  over  one  set  must 
ever  be  written  '  If  it  be  Thy  will,'  and  over  the  other  it 
need  not  be  written,  because  we  are  sure  that  the 
granting  of  our  wishes  is  His  will.  We  know  about 
the  one  that  *  if  we  ask  anything  according  to  His  will, 
He  heareth  us.'  That  may  seem  to  be  a  very  poor  and 
shrunken  kind  of  hope  to  give  a  man,  that  if  his  prayer 
is  in  conformity  with  the  previous  determination  of 
the  divine  will,  it  will  be  answered.  But  it  availed  for 
the  joyful  confidence  of  that  Apostle  who  saw  deepest 
into  the  conditions  and  the  blessedness  of  the  harmony 
of  the  will  of  God  and  of  man.    But  about  the  other 


78  II.  CORINTHIANS  [ch.xil 

set  we  can  only  say,  '  Not  my  will,  but  Thine  be  done.' 
With  that  sentence,  not  as  a  formula  upon  our  lips  but 
deep  in  our  hearts,  let  us  take  everything  into  Hia 
presence — thorns  and  stakes,  pinpricks  and  wounds  out 
of  which  the  life-blood  is  ebbing — let  us  take  them  all 
to  Him,  and  be  sure  that  we  shall  take  none  of  them  in 
vain. 

So  then  we  have  the  Person  to  whom  the  prayer  is 
addressed,  the  subjects  with  which  it  is  occupied,  and 
the  purpose  to  which  it  is  directed.  'Take  away  the 
burden '  was  the  Apostle's  petition ;  but  it  was  a  mis- 
taken petition  and,  therefore,  unanswered. 

II.  That  brings  me  to  the  second  of  the  windings,  as 
I  have  ventured  to  call  them,  of  this  stream — viz.  the 
insight  into  the  source  of  strength  for,  and  the  purpose 
of,  the  thorn  that  could  not  be  taken  away.  The  Lord 
said  unto  me,  '  My  grace  is  sufficient  for  thee.  For  My 
strength '  (where  the  word  '  My '  is  a  supplement,  but  a 
necessary  one) '  is  made  perfect  in  weakness.' 

The  answer  is,  in  form  and  in  substance,  a  gentle 
refusal  of  the  form  of  the  petition,  but  it  is  a  more  than 
granting  of  its  essence.  For  the  best  answer  to  such 
a  prayer,  and  the  answer  which  a  true  man  means 
when  he  asks,  '  Take  away  the  burden,'  need  not  be  the 
external  removal  of  the  pressure  of  the  sorrow,  but  the 
infusing  of  power  to  sustain  it.  There  are  two  ways 
of  lightening  a  burden,  one  is  diminishing  its  actual 
weight,  the  other  is  increasing  the  strength  of  the 
shoulder  that  bears  it.  And  the  latter  is  God's  way,  is 
Christ's  way,  of  dealing  with  us. 

Now  mark  that  the  answer  which  this  faithful  prayer 
receives  is  no  communication  of  anything  fresh,  but  it 
is  the  opening  of  the  man's  eyes  to  see  that  already  he 
has  all  that  he  needs.    The  reply  is  not,  'I  will  give 


▼8.8,9]    STRENGTH  IN  WEAKNESS  79 

thee  grace  sufficient,'  but  *  My  grace '  (which  thou  hast 
now)  'is  sufficient  for  thee.'  That  grace  is  given  and 
possessed  by  the  sorrowing  heart  at  the  moment  when 
it  prays.  Open  your  eyes  to  see  what  you  have,  and 
you  will  not  ask  for  the  load  to  be  taken  away.  Is  not 
that  always  true?  Many  a  heart  is  carrying  some 
heavy  weight ;  perhaps  some  have  an  incurable  sorrow, 
some  are  stricken  by  disease  that  they  know  can  never 
be  healed,  some  are  aware  that  the  shipwreck  has  been 
total,  and  that  the  sorrow  that  they  carry  to-day  will  lie 
down  with  them  in  the  dust.  Be  it  so !  *  My  grace  (not 
shall  be,  but)  is  sufficient  for  thee.'  And  what  thou 
hast  already  in  thy  possession  is  enough  for  all  that 
comes  storming  against  thee  of  disease,  disappoint- 
ment, loss,  and  misery.  Set  on  the  one  side  all  possible 
as  well  as  all  actual  weaknesses,  burdens,  pains,  and  set 
on  the  other  these  two  words — *  My  grace,'  and  all  these 
dwindle  into  nothingness  and  disappear.  If  troubled 
Christian  men  would  learn  what  they  have,  and  would 
use  what  they  already  possess,  they  would  less  often 
beseech  Him  with  vain  petitions  to  take  away  their 
blessings  which  are  in  the  thorns  in  the  flesh.  *My 
grace  is  sufficient.* 

How  modestly  the  Master  speaks  about  what  He 
gives  I  'Sufficient'?  Is  not  there  a  margin  ?  Is  there 
not  more  than  is  wanted  ?  The  overplus  is  *  exceeding 
abundant,'  not  only  'above  what  we  ask  or  think,'  but 
far  more  than  our  need.  '  Two  hundred  pennyworth  of 
bread  is  not  sufficient  that  every  one  may  take  a  little,' 
says  Sense.  Omnipotence  says,  '  Bring  the  few  small 
loaves  and  fishes  unto  Me  ' ;  and  Faith  dispensed  them 
amongst  the  crowd ;  and  Experience  '  gathered  up  of  the 
fragments  that  remained'  more  than  there  had  been 
when  the  multiplication  began.    So  the  grace  utilised 


80  11.  CORINTHIANS  [ch.xii. 

increases  ;  the  gift  grows  as  it  is  employed.  '  Unto  him 
that  hath  shall  be  given.'  And  the  '  sufficiency '  is  not 
a  bare  adequacy,  just  covering  the  extent  of  the  need, 
with  no  overlapping  margin,  but  is  large  beyond  ex- 
pectation, desire,  or  necessity ;  so  leading  onwards  to 
high  hopes  and  a  wider  opening  of  the  open  mouths  of 
our  need  that  the  blessing  may  pour  in. 

The  other  part  of  this  great  answer,  that  the  Christ 
from  Heaven  spoke  in  or  to  the  praying  spirit  of  this 
not  disappointed,  though  refused.  Apostle,  unveiled  the 
purpose  of  the  sorrow,  even  as  the  former  part  had 
disclosed  the  strength  to  bear  it.  For,  says  He,  laying 
down  therein  the  great  law  of  His  kingdom  in  all 
departments  and  in  all  ways,  'My  strength  is  made 
perfect ' — that  is,  of  course,  perfect  in  its  manifestation 
or  operations,  for  it  is  perfect  in  itself  already.  '  My 
strength  is  made  perfect  in  weakness.'  It  works  in  and 
through  man's  weakness. 

God  works  with  broken  reeds.  If  a  man  conceits 
himself  to  be  an  iron  pillar,  God  can  do  nothing  with 
or  by  him.  All  the  self-conceit  and  confidence  have  to 
be  taken  out  of  him  first.  He  has  to  be  brought  low 
before  the  Father  can  use  him  for  His  purposes.  The 
lowlands  hold  the  w^ater,  and,  if  only  the  sluice  is  open, 
the  gravitation  of  His  grace  does  all  the  rest  and 
carries  the  flood  into  the  depths  of  the  lowly  heart. 

His  strength  loves  to  work  in  weakness,  only  the 
weakness  must  be  conscious,  and  the  conscious  weak- 
ness must  have  passed  into  conscious  dependence. 
There,  then,  you  get  the  law  for  the  Church,  for  the 
works  of  Christianity  on  the  widest  scale,  and  in 
individual  lives.  Strength  that  conceits  itself  to  be 
such  is  weakness;  weakness  that  knows  itself  to  be 
such  is  strength.    The  only  true  source  of  Power,  both 


Ti.8,9]    STRENGTH  IN  WEAKNESS  81 

for  Christian  work  and  in  all  other  respects,  is  God 
Himself;  and  our  strength  is  ours  but  by  derivation 
from  Him.  And  the  only  way  to  secure  that  derivation 
is  through  humble  dependence,  which  we  call  faith  in 
Jesus  Christ.  And  the  only  way  by  which  that  faith 
in  Jesus  Christ  can  ever  be  kindled  in  a  man's  soul  is 
through  the  sense  of  his  need  and  emptiness.  So  when 
we  know  ourselves  weak,  we  have  taken  the  first  step 
to  strength ;  just  as,  when  we  know  ourselves  sinners, 
we  have  taken  the  first  step  to  righteousness;  just  as 
in  all  regions  the  recognition  of  the  doleful  fact  of  our 
human  necessity  is  the  beginning  of  the  joyful  confi- 
dence in  the  glad,  triumphant  fact  of  the  divine  fulness. 
All  our  hollownesses,  if  I  may  so  say,  are  met  with  His 
fulness  that  fits  into  them.  It  only  needs  that  a  man 
be  aware  of  that  which  he  is,  and  then  turn  himself  to 
Him  who  is  all  that  he  is  not,  and  then  into  his  empty 
being  will  flow  rejoicing  the  whole  fulness  of  God. 
'  My  strength  is  made  perfect  in  weakness.' 

HI.  Lastly,  mark  the  calm  final  acquiescence  in  the 
loving  necessity  of  continued  sorrow.  'Most  gladly, 
therefore,  will  I  rather  glory  in  my  infirmity  that  the 
power  of  Christ  may  rest  upon  me.'  The  will  is  entirely 
harmonised  with  Christ's.  The  Apostle  begins  with 
instinctive  shrinking,  he  passes  onwards  to  a  percep- 
tion of  the  purpose  of  his  trial  and  of  the  sustaining 
grace ;  and  he  comes  now  to  acquiescence  which  is  not 
passivity,  but  glad  triumph.  He  is  more  than  sub- 
missive, he  gladly  glories  in  his  infirmity  in  order  that 
the  power  of  Christ  may  'spread  a  tabernacle  over' 
him.  •  It  is  good  for  me  that  I  have  been  afflicted,'  said 
the  old  prophet.  Paul  says,  in  a  yet  higher  note  of 
concord  with  God's  will,  '  I  am  glad  that  I  sorrow.  I 
rejoice  in  weakness,  because  it  makes  it  easier  for  me 


82  II.  CORINTHIANS  [ch.  xii. 

to  cling,  and,  clinging,  I  am  strong,  and  conquer  evil.' 
Far  better  is  it  that  the  sting  of  our  sorrow  should  be 
taken  away,  by  our  having  learned  what  it  is  for, 
and  having  bowed  to  it,  than  that  it  should  be  taken 
away  by  the  external  removal  which  we  sometimes 
long  for.  A  grief,  a  trial,  an  incapacity,  a  limitation,  a 
weakness,  which  we  use  as  a  means  of  deepening  our 
sense  of  dependence  upon  Him,  is  a  blessing,  and  not  a 
sorrow.  And  if  we  would  only  go  out  into  the  world 
trying  to  interpret  its  events  in  the  spirit  of  this  great 
text,  we  should  less  frequently  wonder  and  weep  over 
what  sometimes  seem  to  us  the  insoluble  mysteries  of 
the  sorrows  of  ourselves  and  of  other  men.  They  are 
all  intended  to  make  it  more  easy  for  us  to  realise  our 
utter  hanging  upon  Him,  and  so  to  open  our  hearts  to 
receive  more  fully  the  quickening  influences  of  His 
omnipotent  and  self-sufficing  grace. 

Here,  then,  is  a  lesson  for  those  who  have  to  carry 
some  cross  and  know  they  must  carry  it  throughout 
life.  It  will  be  wreathed  with  flowers  if  you  accept  it. 
Here  is  a  lesson  for  all  Christian  workers.  Ministers 
of  the  Gospel  especially  should  banish  all  thoughts 
of  their  own  cleverness,  intellectual  ability,  culture, 
sufficiency  for  their  work,  and  learn  that  only  when 
they  are  emptied  can  they  be  filled,  and  only  when 
they  know  themselves  to  be  nothing  are  they  ready 
for  God  to  work  through  them.  And  here  is  a  lesson 
for  all  who  stand  apart  from  the  grace  and  power 
of  Jesus  Christ  as  if  they  needed  it  not.  Whether 
you  know  it  or  not,  you  are  a  broken  reed ;  and  the 
only  way  of  your  ever  being  bound  up  and  made 
strong  is  that  you  shall  recognise  your  sinfulness, 
your  necessity,  your  abject  poverty,  your  utter  empti- 
ness, and  come  to  Him  who  is  righteousness,  rich.es, 


rB.8,9]         NOT  YOURS  BUT  YOU  83 

fulness,  and  say,  'Because  I  am  weak,  be  Thou  my 
strength.'  The  secret  of  all  noble,  heroic,  useful,  happy 
life  lies  in  the  paradox,  '  When  I  am  weak,  then  am  1 
strong,'  and  the  secret  of  all  failures,  miseries,  hopeless 
losses,  lies  in  its  converse,  *  When  I  am  strong,  then  am 
I  weak.' 


NOT  YOURS  BUT  YOU 

'I  seek  not  yours,  but  you.'— 2  Cor.  xil.  14. 

Men  are  usually  quick  to  suspect  others  of  the  vices  to 
which  they  themselves  are  prone.  It  is  very  hard  for 
one  who  never  does  anything  but  with  an  eye  to  what 
he  can  make  out  of  it,  to  believe  that  there  are  other 
people  actuated  by  higher  motives.  So  Paul  had,  over 
and  over  again,  to  meet  the  hateful  charge  of  making 
money  out  of  his  apostleship.  It  was  one  of  the 
favourite  stones  that  his  opponents  in  the  Corinthian 
Church,  of  whom  there  were  very  many,  very  bitter 
ones,  flung  at  him.  In  this  letter  he  more  than  once 
refers  to  the  charge.  He  does  so  with  great  dignity, 
and  with  a  very  characteristic  and  delicate  mixture  of 
indignation  and  tenderness,  almost  playfulness.  Thus, 
in  the  context,  he  tells  these  Corinthian  grumblers 
that  he  must  beg  their  pardon  for  not  having  taken 
anything  of  them,  and  so  honoured  them.  Then  he 
informs  them  that  he  is  coming  again  to  see  them  for 
the  third  time,  and  that  that  visit  will  be  marked  by 
the  same  independence  of  their  help  as  the  others  had 
been.  And  then  he  just  lets  a  glimpse  of  his  pained 
heart  peep  out  in  the  words  of  my  text.  *  I  seek  not 
yours,  but   you.'      There  speaks   a  disinterested  love 


84  II.  CORINTHIANS  [ch.xii. 

which  feels  obliged,  and  yet  reluctant,  to  stoop  to  say 
that  it  is  love,  and  that  it  is  disinterested.  Where  did 
Paul  learn  this  passionate  desire  to  possess  these  people, 
and  this  entire  suppression  of  self  in  the  desire?  It 
was  a  spark  from  a  sacred  fire,  a  drop  from  an  infinite 
ocean,  an  echo  of  a  divine  voice.  The  words  of  my 
text  would  never  have  been  Paul's  if  the  spirit  of  them 
had  not  first  been  Christ's.  I  venture  to  take  them  in 
that  aspect,  as  setting  forth  Christ's  claims  upon  us, 
and  bearing  very  directly  on  the  question  of  Christian 
service  and  of  Christian  liberality. 

I.  So,  then,  first  of  all,  I  remark,  Christ  desires 
personal  surrender. 

'I  seek  not  yours,  but  you,'  is  the  very  mother- 
tongue  of  love ;  but  upon  our  lips,  even  when  our  love 
is  purest,  there  is  a  tinge  of  selfishness  blending  with 
it,  and  very  often  the  desire  for  another's  love  is  as 
purely  selfish  as  the  desire  for  any  material  good.  But 
in  so  far  as  human  love  is  pure  in  its  desire  to  possess 
another,  we  have  the  right  to  believe  the  deep  and 
wonderful  thought  that  there  is  something  correspond- 
ing to  it  in  the  heart  of  Christ,  which  is  a  revelation 
for  us  of  the  heart  of  God ;  and  that,  however  little  we 
may  be  able  to  construe  the  whole  meaning  of  the  fact. 
He  does  stretch  out  an  arm  of  desire  towards  us  ;  and 
for  His  own  sake,  as  for  ours,  would  fain  draw  us  near 
to  Himself,  and  is  '  satisfied,'  as  He  is  not  without  it, 
when  men's  hearts  yield  themselves  up  to  Him,  and  let 
Him  love  them  and  lavish  Himself  upon  them.  I  do 
not  venture  into  these  depths,  but  I  would  lay  upon 
our  hearts  that  the  very  inmost  meaning  of  all  that 
Jesus  Christ  has  said,  and  is  saying,  to  each  of  us  by 
the  records  of  His  life,  by  the  pathos  of  His  death,  by 
the  miracle  of  His  Resurrection,  by  the  glory  of  His 


e.  14]  NOT  YOURS  BUT  YOU  85 

A^scension,  by  the  power  of  His  granted  Spirit,  is,  *! 
seek  you.' 

And,  brethren,  our  self-surrender  is  the  essence  of  our 
Christianity.  Our  religion  lies  neither  in  our  heads 
Qor  in  our  acts;  the  deepest  notion  of  it  is  that  it  is 
the  entire  yielding  up  of  ourselves  to  Jesus  Christ  our 
Lord.  There  is  plenty  of  religion  which  is  a  religion 
of  the  head  and  of  creeds.  There  is  plenty  of  religion 
which  is  the  religion  of  the  hand  and  of  the  tongue, 
and  of  forms  and  ceremonies  and  sacraments ;  external 
worship.  There  is  plenty  of  religion  which  surrenders 
to  Him  some  of  the  more  superficial  parts  of  our 
personality,  whilst  the  ancient  Anarch,  Self,  sits  un- 
disturbed on  his  dark  throne,  in  the  depths  of  our 
being.  But  none  of  these  are  the  religion  that  either 
Christ  requires  or  that  we  need.  The  only  true  notion 
of  a  Christian  is  a  man  who  can  truly  say, '  I  live,  yet 
not  I,  but  Christ  liveth  in  me.' 

And  that  is  the  only  kind  of  life  that  is  blessed  ;  our 
only  true  nobleness  and  beauty  and  power  and  sweet- 
ness are  measured  by,  and  accurately  correspond  with, 
the  completeness  of  our  surrender  of  ourselves  to  Jesus 
Christ.  As  long  as  the  earth  was  thought  to  be  the 
centre  of  the  planetary  system  there  was  nothing  but 
confusion  in  the  heavens.  Shift  the  centre  to  the  sun 
and  all  becomes  order  and  beauty.  The  root  of  sin, 
and  the  mother  of  death,  is  making  myself  my  own 
law  and  Lord ;  the  germ  of  righteousness,  and  the  first 
pulsations  of  life,  lie  in  yielding  ourselves  to  God  in 
Christ,  because  He  has  yielded  Himself  unto  us. 

I  need  not  remind  you,  I  suppose,  that  this  self- 
surrender  is  a  great  deal  more  than  a  vivid  metaphor: 
that  it  implies  a  very  hard  fact ;  implies  at  least  two 
things,  that  we  have  yielded  ourselves  to  Jesus  Christ, 


86  II.  CORINTHIANS  [ch.xii. 

by  the  love  of  our  hearts,  and  by  the  unreluctant  sub- 
mission of  our  wills,  whether  He  commands  or  whether 
He  sends  sufferings  or  joys. 

And,  oh,  brethren,  be  sure  of  this,  that  no  such  giving 
of  myself  away,  in  the  sweet  reciprocities  of  a  higher 
than  human  affection,  is  possible,  in  the  general,  and 
on  the  large  scale,  if  you  evacuate  from  the  Gospel  the 
great  truth,  *  He  loved  me,  and  gave  Himself  for  me.* 
I  believe — and  therefore  I  am  bound  to  preach  it — that 
the  only  power  which  can  utterly  annihilate  and  cast 
out  the  dominion  of  self  from  a  human  soul  is  the 
power  that  is  lodged  in  the  sacrifice  of  Jesus  Christ  on 
the  Cross  for  sinful  men. 

And  whilst  I  would  fully  recognise  all  that  is  noble, 
and  all  that  is  effective,  in  systems  either  of  religion, 
or  of  irreligious  morality,  which  have  no  place  within 
their  bounds  for  that  great  motive,  I  am  sure  of  this, 
that  the  evil  self  within  us  is  too  strong  to  be  exorcised 
by  anything  short  of  the  old  message,  *  Jesus  Christ 
has  given  His  life  for  thee,  wilt  thou  not  give  thyself 
unto  Him?' 

II.  Christ  seeks  personal  service. 

•  I  seek  .  .  .  you ' ;  not  only  for  My  love,  but  for  My 
tools ;  for  My  instruments  in  carrying  out  the  purposes 
for  which  I  died,  and  establishing  My  dominion  in  the 
world.  Now  I  want  to  say  two  or  three  very  plain 
things  about  this  matter,  which  lies  very  near  my 
heart,  as  to  some  degree  responsible  for  the  amount  of 
Christian  activity  and  service  in  this  my  congregation. 
Brethren,  the  surrender  of  ourselves  to  Jesus  Christ  in 
acts  of  direct  Christian  activity  and  service,  will  be  the 
outcome  of  a  real  surrender  of  ourselves  to  Him  in 
love  and  obedience. 

I  cannot  imagine  a  man  who,  in  any  deep  sense,  has 


▼.U]  NOT  YOURS  BUT  YOU  87 

realised  his  obligations  to  that  Saviour,  and  in  any 
real  sense  has  made  the  great  act  of  self-renunciation, 
and  crowned  Christ  as  his  Lord,  living  for  the  rest  of 
his  life,  as  so  many  professing  Christians  do,  dumb  and 
idle,  in  so  far  as  work  for  the  Master  is  concerned.  It 
seems  to  me  that,  among  the  many  wants  of  this 
generation  of  professing  Christians,  there  is  none  that 
is  more  needed  than  that  a  wave  of  new  consecration 
should  pass  over  the  Church.  If  men  who  call  them- 
selves Christians  lived  more  in  habitual  contact  with 
the  facts  of  their  redeeming  Saviour's  sacrifice  for 
them,  there  would  be  no  need  to  lament  the  fewness  of 
the  labourers,  as  measured  against  the  overwhelming 
multitude  of  the  fields  that  are  white  to  harvest.  If 
once  that  flood  of  a  new  sense  of  Christ's  gift,  and  a 
consequent  new  completeness  of  our  returned  gifts  to 
Him,  flowed  over  the  churches,  then  all  the  little  empty 
ravines  would  be  filled  with  a  flashing  tide.  Not  a 
shuttle  moves,  not  a  spindle  revolves,  until  the  strong 
impulse  born  of  fire  rushes  in ;  and  then,  all  is  activity. 
It  is  no  use  to  flog,  flog,  flog,  at  idle  Christians,  and  try 
to  make  them  work.  There  is  only  one  thing  that  will 
set  them  to  work,  and  that  is  that  they  shall  live  nearer 
their  Master,  and  find  out  more  of  what  they  owe  to 
Him;  and  so  render  themselves  up  to  be  His  instru- 
ments for  any  purpose  for  which  He  may  choose  to  use 
them. 

This  surrender  of  ourselves  for  direct  Christian  service 
is  the  only  solution  of  the  problem  of  how  to  win  the 
world  for  Jesus  Christ.  Professionals  cannot  do  it. 
Men  of  my  class  cannot  do  it.  We  are  clogged  very 
largely  by  the  fact  that,  being  necessarily  dependent 
on  our  congregations  for  a  living,  we  cannot,  with  as 
clear  an  emphasis  as  you  can,  go  to  people  and  say, 


8^  II.  CORINTHIANS  [ch.  xii. 

'We  seek  not  yours,  but  you.'  I  have  nothing  to 
say  about  the  present  ecclesiastical  arrangements  of 
modern  Christian  communities.  That  would  take  me 
altogether  from  my  present  purposes,  but  I  want  to 
lay  this  upon  your  consciences,  dear  brethren,  that 
you  who  have  other  means  of  living  than  proclaim- 
ing Christ's  name  have  an  advantage,  which  it  is 
at  your  peril  that  you  fling  away.  As  long  as  the 
Christian  Church  thought  that  an  ordained  priest  was 
a  man  who  could  do  things  that  laymen  could  not  do, 
the  limitation  of  Christian  service  to  the  priesthood  was 
logical.  But  when  the  Christian  Church,  especially  as 
represented  by  us  Nonconformists,  came  to  believe  that 
a  minister  was  only  a  man  who  preached  the  Gospel, 
which  every  Christian  man  is  bound  to  do,  the  limita- 
tions of  Christian  service  to  the  official  class  became  an 
illogical  survival,  utterly  incongruous  with  the  funda- 
mental principles  of  our  conception  of  the  Christian 
Church.  And  yet  here  it  is,  devastating  our  churches 
to-day,  and  making  hundreds  of  good  people  perfectly 
comfortable,  in  an  unscriptural  and  unchristian  in- 
dolence, because,  forsooth,  it  is  the  minister's  business 
to  preach  the  Gospel.  I  know  that  there  is  not  nearly 
as  much  of  that  indolence  as  there  used  to  be.  Thank 
God  for  that.  There  are  far  more  among  our  congre- 
gations than  in  former  times  who  have  realised  the 
fact  that  it  is  every  Christian  man's  task,  somehow  or 
other,  to  set  forth  the  great  name  of  Jesus  Christ.  But 
still,  alas,  in  a  church  with,  say,  400  members,  you  may 
knock  ofif  the  last  cypher,  and  you  will  get  a  probably 
not  too  low  statement  of  the  number  of  people  in  it 
who  have  realised  and  fulfilled  this  obligation.  What 
about  the  other  360  'dumb  dogs,  that  will  not  bark'? 
And  in  that  360  there  will  probably  be  several  men 


f.U]  NOT  YOURS  BUT  YOU  89 

who  can  make  speeches  on  political  platforms,  and  in 
scientific  lecture- halls,  and  about  social  and  economical 
questions,  only  they  cannot,  for  the  life  of  them,  open 
their  mouths  and  say  a  word  to  a  soul  about  Him 
whom  they  say  they  serve,  and  to  whom  they  say  they 
belong. 

Brethren,  this  direct  service  cannot  be  escaped  from, 
or  commuted  by  a  money  payment.  In  the  old  days  a 
man  used  to  escape  serving  in  the  militia  if  he  found  a 
substitute,  and  paid  for  him.  There  are  a  great  many 
good  Christian  people  who  seem  to  think  that  Christ's 
army  is  recruited  on  that  principle.  But  it  is  a  mistake. 
*  I  seek  you,  not  yours.* 

III.  Lastly,  and  only  a  word.  Christ  seeks  us,  and 
ours. 

Not  you  without  yours,  still  less  yours  without  you. 
This  is  no  place,  nor  is  the  fag  end  of  a  sermon  the 
time,  to  talk  about  so  wide  a  subject  as  the  ethics  of 
Christian  dealing  with  money.  But  two  things  I  will 
say — consecration  of  self  is  extremely  imperfect  which 
does  not  include  the  consecration  of  possessions,  and, 
conversely,  consecration  of  possessions  which  does  not 
flow  from,  and  is  not  accompanied  by,  the  consecration 
of  self,  is  nought. 

If,  then,  the  great  law  of  self-surrender  is  to  run 
through  the  whole  Christian  life,  that  law,  as  applied 
to  our  dealing  with  what  we  own,  prescribes  three 
things.  The  first  is  stewardship,  not  ownership ;  and 
that  all  round  the  circumference  of  our  possessions. 
Depend  upon  it,  the  angry  things  that  we  hear  to-day 
about  the  unequal  distribution  of  wealth  will  get 
angrier  and  angrier,  and  will  be  largely  justified  in 
becoming  so  by  the  fact  that  so  many  of  us,  Christians 
included,    have  firmly  grasped  the  notion  of  posses- 


90  II.  CORINTHIANS  [ch.  xii. 

sion,  and  utterly  forgotten  the  obligation  of  steward- 
ship. 

Again,  the  law  of  self-surrender,  in  its  application  to 
all  that  we  have,  involves  our  continual  reference  to 
Jesus  Christ  in  our  disposition  of  these  our  possessions. 
I  draw  no  line  of  distinction,  in  this  respect,  between 
what  a  man  spends  upon  himself,  and  what  he  spends 
upon  'charity,'  and  what  he  spends  upon  religious 
objects.  One  principle  is  to  govern,  getting,  hoarding, 
giving,  enjoying,  and  that  is,  that  in  it  all  Christ  shall 
be  Master. 

Again,  the  law  of  self-surrender,  in  its  application  to 
our  possessions,  implies  that  there  shall  be  an  element 
of  sacrifice  in  our  use  of  these;  whether  they  be 
possessions  of  intellect,  of  acquirement,  of  influence,  of 
position,  or  of  material  wealth.  The  law  of  help  is 
sacrifice,  and  the  law  for  a  Christian  man  is  that  he 
shall  not  offer  unto  the  Lord  his  God  that  which  costs 
him  nothing. 

So,  dear  friends,  let  us  all  get  near  to  that  great 
central  fire  till  it  melts  our  hearts.  Let  the  love  which 
is  our  hope  be  our  pattern.  Remember  that  though 
only  faintly,  and  from  afar,  can  the  issues  of  Christ's 
great  sacrifice  be  reproduced  in  any  actions  of  ours, 
the  spirit  which  brought  Him  to  die  is  the  spirit 
which  must  instruct  and  inspire  us  to  live.  Unless  we 
can  say,  'He  loved  me,  and  gave  Himself  for  me;  I 
yield  myself  to  Him ' ;  and  unless  our  lives  confirm  the 
utterance,  we  have  little  right  to  call  ourselves  His 
disciples. 


a. 


GALATIANS 

FROM  CENTRE  TO  CIRCUMFERENCE 

*  The  life  which  I  now  live  in  the  flesh  I  lire  by  the  faith  of  the  Son  of  God, 
who  loved  me,  and  gave  HimseK  for  mc.'— Gal.  ii.  20. 

We  have  a  bundle  of  paradoxes  in  this  verse.  First, 
*  I  am  crucified  with  Christ,  nevertheless  I  live.'  The 
Christian  life  is  a  dying  life.  If  we  are  in  any  real 
sense  joined  to  Christ,  the  power  of  His  death  makes 
us  dead  to  self  and  sin  and  the  world.  In  that  region, 
as  in  the  physical,  death  is  the  gate  of  life ;  and,  inas- 
much as  what  we  die  to  in  Christ  is  itself  only  a  living 
death,  we  live  because  we  die,  and  in  proportion  as  we 
die. 

The  next  paradox  is,  *  Yet  not  I,  but  Christ  liveth  in 
me.'  The  Christian  life  is  a  life  in  which  an  indwelling 
Christ  casts  out,  and  therefore  quickens,  self.  We  gain 
ourselves  when  we  lose  ourselves.  His  abiding  in  us 
does  not  destroy  but  heightens  our  individuality.  We 
then  most  truly  live  when  we  can  say,  '  Not  I,  but 
Christ  liveth  in  me ' ;  the  soul  of  my  soul  and  the  self 
of  myself. 

And  the  last  paradox  is  that  of  my  text,  *The  life 
which  I  live  in  the  flesh,  I  live  in'  (not  *by')  'the 
faith  of  the  Son  of  God.'  The  true  Christian  life  moves 
in  two  spheres  at  once.  Externally  and  superficially 
it  is  •  in  the  flesh,'  really  it  is  *  in  faith.'  It  belongs  not 
to  the  material  nor  is  dependent  upon  the  physical 

91 


02  GALATIANS  [ch.  ii. 

body  in  which  we  are  housed.  We  are  strangers  here, 
and  the  true  region  and  atmosphere  of  the  Christian 
life  is  that  invisible  sphere  of  faith. 

So,  then,  we  have  in  these  words  of  my  text  a 
Christian  man's  frank  avowal  of  the  secret  of  his  own 
life.  It  is  like  a  geological  cutting,  it  goes  down  from 
the  surface,  where  the  grass  and  the  flowers  are, 
through  the  various  strata,  but  it  goes  deeper  than 
these,  to  the  fiery  heart,  the  flaming  nucleus  and 
centre  of  all  things.  Therefore  it  may  do  us  all  good 
to  make  a  section  of  our  hearts  and  see  whether  the 
strata  there  are  conformable  to  those  that  are  here. 

I.  Let  us  begin  with  the  centre,  and  work  to  the 
surface.  We  have,  first,  the  great  central  fact  named 
last,  but  round  which  all  the  Christian  life  is  gathered. 

•  The  Son  of  God,  who  loved  me,  and  gave  Himself 
for  me.'  These  two  words,  the  'loving.'  and  the 
•giving,'  both  point  backwards  to  some  one  definite 
historical  fact,  and  the  only  fact  which  they  can  have 
in  view  is  the  great  one  of  the  death  of  Jesus  Christ. 
That  is  His  giving  up  of  Himself.  That  is  the  signal 
and  highest  manifestation  and  proof  of  His  love. 

Notice  (though  I  can  but  touch  in  the  briefest 
possible  manner  upon  the  great  thoughts  that  gather 
round  these  words)  the  three  aspects  of  that  transcen- 
dent fact,  the  centre  and  nucleus  of  the  whole 
Christian  life,  which  come  into  prominence  in  these 
words  before  us,  Christ's  death  is  a  great  act  of  self- 
surrender,  of  which  the  one  motive  is  His  own  pure 
and  perfect  love.  No  doubt  in  other  places  of  Scrip- 
ture we  have  set  forth  the  death  of  Christ  as  being 
the  result  of  the  Father's  purpose,  and  we  read  that  in 
that  wondrous  surrender  there  were  two  givings  up. 
The  Father  *  freely  gave  Him  up  to  the  death  for  us 


T.20]    CENTRE  TO  CIRCUMFERENCE      93 

all.*  That  divine  surrender,  the  Apostle  ventures,  in 
another  passage,  to  find  dimly  suggested  from  afar,  in 
the  silent  but  submissive  and  unreluctant  surrender 
with  which  Abraham  yielded  his  only  begotten  son  on 
the  mountain  top.  But  besides  that  ineffable  giving 
up  by  the  Father  of  the  Son,  Jesus  Christ  Himself, 
moved  only  by  His  love,  willingly  yields  Himself.  The 
whole  doctrine  of  the  sacrifice  of  Jesus  Christ  has  been 
marred  by  one-sided  insisting  on  the  truth  that  God 
sent  the  Son,  to  the  forgetting  of  the  fact  that  the  Son 
'came';  and  that  He  was  bound  to  the  Cross  neither 
by  cords  of  man's  weaving  nor  by  the  will  of  the 
Father,  but  that  He  Himself  bound  Himself  to  that 
Cross  with  the  '  cords  of  love  and  the  bands  of  a  man,* 
and  died  from  no  natural  necessity  nor  from  any  * 
imposition  of  the  divine  will  upon  Him  unwilling,  but 
because  He  would,  and  that  He  would  because  He 
loved.     '  He  loved  me,  and  gave  Himself  for  me.* 

Then  note,  farther,  that  here,  most  distinctly,  that 
great  act  of  self-surrendering  love  which  culminates 
on  the  Cross  is  regarded  as  being  for  man  in  a  special 
and  peculiar  sense.  I  know,  of  course,  that  from  the 
mere  wording  of  my  text  we  cannot  argue  the  atoning 
and  substitutionary  character  of  the  death  of  Christ, 
for  the  preposition  here  does  not  necessarily  mean 
•instead  of,'  but  'for  the  behoof  of.'  But  admitting 
that,  I  have  another  question.  If  Christ's  death  is  for 
)'the  behoof  of  men,  in  what  conceivable  sense  does  it 
benefit  them,  unless  it  is  in  the  place  of  men  ?  The 
death  'for  me'  is  only  for  me  when  I  understand  that 
it  is  'instead  of  me.  And  practically  you  will  find 
that  wherever  the  full-orbed  faith  in  Christ  Jesus  as 
the  death  for  all  the  sins  of  the  whole  world,  bearing 
the  penalty  and  bearing  it  away,  has  begun  to  falter 


94  GALATI AKS  [ch.  ii. 

and  grow  pale,  men  do  not  know  what  to  do  with 
Christ's  death  at  all,  and  stop  talking  about  it  to  a 
very  large  extent. 

Unless  He  died  as  a  sacrifice,  I,  for  one,  fail  to  see  in 
what  other  than  a  mere  sentimental  sense  the  death  of 
Christ  is  a  death  for  men. 

And  lastly,  about  this  matter,  observe  how  here  we 
have  brought  into  vivid  prominence  the  great  thought 
that  Jesus  Christ  in  His  death  has  regard  to  single 
souls.  We  preach  that  He  died  for  all.  If  we  believe 
in  that  august  title  which  is  laid  here  as  the  vindica- 
tion of  our  faith  on  the  one  hand,  and  as  the  ground 
of  the  possibility  of  the  benefits  of  His  death  being 
world-wide  on  the  other — viz.  the  Son  of  God — then 
we  shall  not  stumble  at  the  thought  that  He  died  for 
all,  because  He  died  for  each.  I  know  that  if  you  only 
regard  Jesus  Christ  as  human  I  am  talking  utter 
nonsense ;  but  I  know,  too,  that  if  we  believe  in  the 
divinity  of  our  Lord,  there  need  be  nothing  to  stumble 
us,  but  the  contrary,  in  the  thought  that  it  was  not  an 
abstraction  that  He  died  for,  that  it  was  not  a  vague 
mass  of  unknown  beings,  clustered  together,  but  so 
far  away  that  He  could  not  see  any  of  their  faces, 
for  whom  He  gave  His  life  on  the  Cross.  That  is  the 
way  in  which,  and  in  which  alone,  we  can  embrace 
the  whole  mass  of  humanity — by  losing  sight  of  the 
individuals.  We  generalise,  precisely  because  we  do 
not  see  the  individual  units;  but  that  is  not  God's 
way,  and  that  is  not  Christ's  way,  who  is  divine. 
For  Him  the  all  is  broken  up  into  its  parts,  and  when 
we  say  that  the  divine  love  loves  all,  we  mean  that 
the  divine  love  loves  each.  I  believe  (and  I  commend 
the  thought  to  you)  that  we  do  not  fathom  the  depth  J 
of  Christ's  sufferings  unless  we  recognise  that  the  sins 


f.  20]    CENTRE  TO  CIRCUMFERENCE       95 

of  each  man  were  consciously  adding  pressure  to  the 
load  beneath  which  He  sank ;  nor  picture  the  wonders 
of  His  love  until  we  believe  that  on  the  Cross  it  dis- 
tinguished and  embraced  each,  and,  therefore,  com- 
prehended all.  Every  man  may  say,  •  He  loved  me,  and 
gave  Himself  for  me.' 

II.  So  much,  then,  for  the  first  central  fact  that  is 
here.  Now  let  me  say  a  word,  in  the  second  place, 
about  the  faith  which  makes  that  fact  the  foundation 
of  my  own  personal  life. 

'  I  live  by  the  faith  of  the  Son  of  God,  who  loved  me, 
and  gave  Himself  for  me.'  I  am  not  going  to  plunge 
into  any  unnecessary  dissertations  about  the  nature 
of  faith ;  but  may  I  say  that,  like  all  other  familiar 
conceptions,  it  has  got  worn  so  smooth  that  it  glides 
over  our  mental  palate  without  roughening  any  of  the 
papillce  or  giving  any  sense  or  savour  at  all  ?  And  I 
do  believe  that  dozens  of  people  like  you,  who  have 
come  to  church  and  chapel  all  your  lives,  and  fancy 
yourselves  to  be  fully  au  fait  at  all  the  Christian  truth 
that  you  will  ever  hear  from  my  lips,  do  not  grasp 
with  any  clearness  of  apprehension  the  meaning  of 
that  fundamental  word  '  faith.' 

It  is  a  thousand  pities  that  it  is  confined  by  the 
accidents  of  language  to  our  attitude  in  reference  to 
Jesus  Christ.  So  some  of  you  think  that  it  is  some 
kind  of  theological  juggle  which  has  nothing  to  do 
with,  and  never  can  be  seen  in  operation  in,  common 
life.  Suppose,  instead  of  the  threadbare,  technical 
•  faith '  we  took  to  a  new  translation  for  a  minute,  and 
said  •  trust,'  do  you  think  that  would  freshen  up  the 
thought  to  you  at  all?  It  is  the  very  same  thing 
which  makes  the  sweetness  of  your  relations  to  wife 
and  husband  and  friend  and  parent,  which,  transferred 


96  GALATIANS  [ch.ii. 

to  Jesus  Christ  and  glorified  in  the  process,  becomes 
the  seed  of  immortal  life  and  the  opener  of  the  gate  of 
Heaven.  Trust  Jesus  Christ.  That  is  the  living  centre 
of  the  Christian  life ;  that  is  the  process  by  which  we 
draw  the  general  blessing  of  the  Gospel  into  our  own 
hearts,  and  make  the  world-wide  truth,  our  truth. 

I  need  not  insist  either,  I  suppose,  on  the  necessity, 
if  our  Christian  life  is  to  be  modelled  upon  the  Apos- 
tolic lines,  of  our  faith  embracing  the  Christ  in  all 
these  aspects  in  which  I  have  been  speaking  about  His 
work.  God  forbid  that  I  should  seem  to  despise  rudi- 
mentary and  incomplete  feelings  after  Him  in  any 
heart  which  may  be  unable  to  say  'Amen'  to  Paul's 
statement  here.  I  want  to  insist  very  earnestly,  and 
with  special  reference  to  the  young,  that  the  true 
Christian  faith  is  not  merely  the  grasp  of  the  person, 
but  it  is  the  grasp  of  the  Person  who  is  '  declared  to  be 
the  Son  of  God,'  and  whose  death  is  the  voluntary  self- 
surrender  motived  by  His  love,  for  the  carrying  away 
of  the  sins  of  every  single  soul  in  the  whole  universe. 
That  is  the  Christ,  the  full  Christ,  cleaving  to  whom 
our  faith  finds  somewhat  to  grasp  worthy  of  grasping. 
And  I  beseech  you,  be  not  contented  with  a  partial 
grasp  of  a  partial  Saviour;  neither  shut  your  eyes  to 
the  divinity  of  His  nature,  nor  to  the  efficacy  of  His 
death,  but  remember  that  the  true  Gospel  preaches 
Christ  and  Him  crucified ;  and  that  for  us,  saving  faith 
is  the  faith  that  grasps  the  Son  of  God  '  Who  loved 
me  and  gave  Himself  for  me.' 

Note,  further,  that  true  faith  is  personal  faith,  w^hich 
appropriates,  and,  as  it  were,  fences  in  as  my  very 
own,  the  purpose  and  benefit  of  Christ's  giving  of 
Himself.  It  is  always  difficult  for  lazy  people  (and 
most  of  us  are  lazy)  to  transfer  into  their  own  personal 


V.20]    CENTRE  TO  CIRCUMFERENCE      97 

lives,  and  to  bring  into  actual  contact  with  themselves 
and  their  own  experience,  wide,  general  truths.  To 
assent  to  them,  when  we  keep  them  in  their  generality, 
is  very  easy  and  very  profitless.  It  does  no  raan  any 
good  to  say  '  All  men  are  mortal  * ;  but  how  different  it 
is  when  the  blunt  end  of  that  generalisation  is  shaped 
into  a  point,  and  I  say  '  I  have  to  die ! '  It  penetrates 
then,  and  it  sticks.  It  is  easy  to  say  *  All  men  are 
sinners.'  That  never  yet  forced  anybody  down  on 
his  knees.  But  when  we  shut  out  on  either  side  the 
lateral  view  and  look  straight  on,  on  the  narrow  line 
of  our  own  lives,  up  to  the  Throne  where  the  Lawgiver 
sits,  and  feel  *  I  am  a  sinful  man,'  that  sends  us  to  our 
prayers  for  pardon  and  purity.  And  in  like  manner 
nobody  was  ever  wholesomely  terrified  by  the  thought 
of  a  general  judgment.  But  when  you  translate  it 
into  'I  must  stand  there,'  the  terror  of  the  Lord 
persuades  men. 

In  like  manner  that  great  truth  which  we  all  of  us 
say  we  believe,  that  Christ  has  died  for  the  world,  is 
utterly  useless  and  profitless  to  us  until  we  have 
translated  it  into  Paul's  world,  'loved  me  and  gave 
Himself  for  me.'  I  do  not  say  that  the  essence  of  faith 
is  the  conversion  of  the  general  statement  into  the 
particular  application,  but  I  do  say  that  there  is  no 
faith  which  does  not  realise  one's  personal  possession 
of  the  benefits  of  the  death  of  Christ,  and  that  until  i 
you  turn  the  wide  word  into  a  message  for  yourself 
alone,  you  have  not  yet  got  within  sight  of  the  blessed-' 
ness  of  the  Christian  life.  The  whole  river  may  flow 
past  me,  but  only  so  much  of  it  as  I  can  bring  into  my 
own  garden  by  my  own  sluices,  and  lift  in  my  own 
bucket,  and  put  to  my  own  lips,  is  of  any  use  to  me. 
The  death  of  Christ  for  the  world  is  a  commonplace  of 

G 


98  GALATIANS  [ch.il 

superficial  Christianity,  whichi  is  no  Christianity ;  the 
death  of  Christ  for  myself,  as  if  He  and  I  were  the 
only  beings  in  the  universe,  that  is  the  death  on  which 
faith  fastens  and  feeds. 

And,  dear  brother,  you  have  the  right  to  exercise  it. 
The  Christ  loves  each,  and  therefore  He  loves  all; 
that  is  the  process  in  the  divine  mind.  The  converse 
is  the  process  in  the  revelation  of  that  mind ;  the  Bible 
says  to  us,  Christ  loves  all,  and  therefore  we  have  the 
right  to  draw  the  inference  that  He  loves  each.  You 
have  as  much  right  to  take  every  '  whosoever '  of  the 
New  Testament  as  your  very  own,  as  if  on  the  page 
of  your  Bible  that  *  whosoever '  was  struck  out,  and 
your  name,  John,  Thomas,  Mary,  Elizabeth,  or  what- 
ever it  is,  were  put  in  there.  *  He  loved  me.'  Can  you 
say  that?  Have  you  ever  passed  from  the  region  of 
universality,  which  is  vague  and  profitless,  into  the 
region  of  personal  appropriation  of  the  person  of  Jesus 
Christ  and  His  death  ? 

III.  And  now,  lastly,  notice  the  life  which  is  built 
upon  this  faith. 

The  true  Christian  life  is  dual.  It  is  a  life  in  the 
flesh,  and  it  is  also  a  life  in  faith.  These  two,  as  I 
have  said,  are  like  two  spheres,  in  either  of  which  a 
man's  course  is  passed,  or,  rather,  the  one  is  surface 
and  the  other  is  central.  Here  is  a  great  trailing 
spray  of  seaweed  floating  golden  on  the  unquiet 
water,  and  rising  and  falling  on  each  wave  or  ripple. 
Aye!  but  its  root  is  away  deep,  deep,  deep  below  thov) 
storms,  below  where  there  is  motion,  anchored  upon 
a  hidden  rock  that  can  never  move.  And  so  my  life, 
if  it  be  a  Christian  life  at  all,  has  its  surface  amidst 
the  shifting  mutabilities  of  earth,  but  its  root  in  the 
eilent  eternities  of  the  centre  of  all  things,  which  is 


V.20]    CENTRE  TO  CIRCUMFERENCE      99 

Christ  in  God.  I  live  in  the  flesh  on  the  outside,  but 
if  I  am  a  Christian  at  all,  I  live  in  the  faith  in  regard 
of  my  true  and  proper  being. 

This  faith,  which  grasps  the  Divine  Christ  as  the 
person  whose  love-moved  death  is  my  life,  and  who 
by  my  faith  becomes  Himself  the  indwelling  Guest  in 
my  heart;  this  faith,  if  it  be  worth  anything,  will 
mould  and  influence  my  whole  being.  It  will  give 
me  motive,  pattern,  power  for  all  noble  service  and 
all  holy  living.  The  one  thing  that  stirs  men  to  true 
obedience  is  that  their  hearts  be  touched  with  the 
firm  assurance  that  Christ  loved  them  and  died  for 
them. 

We  sometimes  used  to  see  men  starting  an  engine 
by  manual  force;  and  what  toil  it  was  to  get  the 
great  cranks  to  turn,  and  the  pistons  to  rise !  So  we 
set  ourselves  to  try  and  move  our  lives  into  holiness 
and  beauty  and  nobleness,  and  it  is  dispiriting  work. 
There  is  a  far  better,  surer  way  than  that:  let  the 
steam  in,  and  that  will  do  it.  That  is  to  say — let  the 
Christ  in  His  dying  power  and  the  living  energy  of  His 
indwelling  Spirit  occupy  the  heart,  and  activity 
becomes  blessedness,  and  work  is  rest,  and  service  is 
freedom  and  dominion. 

The  life  that  I  live  in  the  flesh  is  poor,  limited, 
tortured  with  anxiety,  weighed  upon  by  sore  distress, 
becomes  dark  and  gray  and  dreary  often  as  we  travel 
nearer  the  end,  and  is  always  full  of  miseries  and  of 
pains.  But  if  within  that  life  in  the  flesh  there  be  a 
life  in  faith,  which  is  the  life  of  Christ  Himself  brought 
to  us  through  our  faith,  that  life  will  be  triumphant, 
quiet,  patient,  aspiring,  noble,  hopeful,  gentle,  strong. 
Godlike,  being  the  life  of  Christ  Himself  within  us. 

So,  dear  friends,  test  your  faith  by  these  two  tests, 


100  GAL  ATIANS  [ch.  hi. 

what  it  grasps  and  what  it  does.  If  it  grasps  a  whole 
Christ,  in  all  the  glory  of  His  nature  and  the  blessed- 
ness of  His  work,  it  is  genuine;  and  it  proves  its 
genuineness  if,  and  only  if,  it  works  in  you  by  love; 
animating  all  your  action,  bringing  you  ever  into  the 
conscious  presence  of  that  dear  Lord,  and  making 
Him  pattern,  law,  motive,  goal,  companion  and  reward. 
*  To  me  to  live  is  Christ.' 

If  so,  then  we  live  indeed ;  but  to  live  in  the  flesh  is 
to  die;  and  the  death  that  we  die  when  we  live  in 
Christ  is  the  gate  and  the  beginning  of  the  only  real 
life  of  the  soul. 


THE  EVIL  EYE  AND  THE  CHARM 

'  Who  hath  bewitched  you,  that  ye  should  not  obey  the  truth,  before  whose  eyes 
Jesus  Christ  hath  been  evidently  set  forth,  crucified  among  you?'— Gal.  iii.  1. 

The  Revised  Version  gives  a  shorter,  and  probably 
correct,  form  of  this  vehement  question.  It  omits  the 
two  clauses  *  that  ye  should  not  obey  the  truth '  and 
'  among  you.'  The  omission  increases  the  sharpness  of 
the  thrust  of  the  interrogation,  whilst  it  loses  nothing 
of  the  meaning. 

Now,  a  very  striking  metaphor  runs  through  the 
whole  of  this  question,  which  may  easily  be  lost  sight 
of  by  ordinary  readers.  You  know  the  old  superstition 
as  to  the  Evil  Eye,  almost  universal  at  the  date  of  this 
letter  and  even  now  in  the  East,  and  lingering  still 
amongst  ourselves.  Certain  persons  were  supposed  to 
Imve  the  power,  by  a  look,  to  work  mischief,  and  by 
fixing  the  gaze  of  their  victims,  to  suck  the  very  life 
out  of  them.  So  Paul  asks  who  the  malign  sorcerer 
is  who  has  thus  fascinated  the  fickle  Galatians,  and  is 
draining  their  Christian  life  out  of  their  eyes, 


v.l]  THE  EVIL  EYE  AND  THE  CHARM  101 

Very  appropriately,  therefore,  if  there  is  this  re- 
ference, which  the  word  translated  •  bewitched '  carries 
with  it,  he  goes  on  to  speak  about  Jesus  Christ  as 
having  been  displayed  before  their  eyes.  They  had  seen 
Him.  How  did  they  come  to  be  able  to  turn  away  to 
look  at  anything  else  ? 

But  there  is  another  observation  to  be  made  by  way 
of  introduction,  and  that  is  as  to  the  full  force  of  the 
expression  '  evidently  set  forth.'  The  word  employed, 
as  commentators  tell  us,  is  that  which  is  used  for  the 
display  of  official  proclamations,  or  public  notices,  in 
some  conspicuous  place,  as  the  Forum  or  the  market, 
that  the  citizens  might  read.  So,  keeping  up  the  meta- 
phor, the  word  might  be  rendered,  as  has  been  suggested 
by  some  eminent  scholars,  'placarded' — 'Before  whose 
eyes  Jesus  Christ  has  been  placarded.'  The  expres- 
sion has  acquired  somewhat  ignoble  associations  from 
modern  advertising,  but  that  is  no  reason  why  we 
should  lose  sight  of  its  force.  So,  then,  Paul  says,  '  In 
my  preaching,  Christ  was  conspicuously  set  forth.  It 
is  like  some  inexplicable  enchantment  that,  having 
seen  Him,  you  should  turn  away  to  gaze  on  others.' 
It  is  insanity  which  evokes  wonder,  as  well  as  sin  which 
deserves  rebuke;  and  the  fiery  question  of  my  text 
conveys  both. 

I.  Keeping  to  the  metaphor,  I  note  first  the  placard 
which  Paul  had  displayed. 

'Jesus  Christ  crucified  has  been  conspicuously  set 
forth  before  you,'  he  says  to  these  Galatians.  Now,  he 
i8  referring,  of  course,  to  his  own  work  of  preaching 
the  Gospel  to  them  at  the  beginning.  And  the  vivid 
metaphor  suggests  very  strikingly  two  things.  We  see 
in  it  the  Apostle's  notion  of  what  He  had  to  do.  His 
had  been  a  very  humble  office,  simply  to  hang  up  a  pro- 


102  GALATIANS  [ch.  hi. 

damation.  The  one  virtue  of  a  proclamation  is  that 
it  should  be  brief  and  plain.  It  must  be  authoritative, 
it  must  be  urgent,  it  must  be  *  writ  large,'  it  must  be 
easily  intelligible.  And  he  that  makes  it  public  has 
nothing  to  do  except  to  fasten  it  up,  and  make  sure 
that  it  is  legible.  If  I  might  venture  into  modern 
phraseology,  what  Paul  means  is  that  he  was  neither 
more  nor  less  than  a  bill-sticker,  that  he  went  out  with 
the  placards  and  fastened  them  up. 

Ah!  if  we  ministers  universally  acted  up  to  the 
implications  of  this  metaphor,  do  you  not  think  the 
pulpit  would  be  more  frequently  a  centre  of  power 
than  it  is  to-day?  And  if,  instead  of  presenting  our 
own  ingenuities  and  speculations,  we  were  to  realise 
the  fact  that  we  have  to  hide  ourselves  behind  the 
broad  sheet  that  we  fasten  up,  there  would  be  a  new 
breath  over  many  a  moribund  church,  and  we  should 
hear  less  of  the  often  warrantable  sarcasms  about  the 
inefficiency  of  the  modern  pulpit. 

But  I  turn  from  Paul's  conception  of  the  office  to  his 
statement  of  his  theme.  '  Jesus  was  displayed  amongst 
you.'  If  I  might  vary  the  metaphor  a  little,  the  placard 
that  Paul  fastened  up  was  like  those  that  modern  ad- 
vertising ingenuity  displays  upon  all  our  walls.  It  was 
a  picture-placard,  and  on  it  was  portrayed  one  sole  figure 
— Jesus,  the  Person.  Christianity  is  Christ,  and  Christ 
is  Christianity;  and  wherever  there  is  a  pulpit  or  a 
book  which  deals  rather  with  doctrines  than  with  Him 
who  is  the  Fountain  and  Quarry  of  all  doctrine,  there 
is  divergence  from  the  primitive  form  of  the  Gospel. 

I  know,  of  course,  that  doctrines — which  are  only 
formal  and  orderly  statements  of  principles  involved 
in  the  facts — must  flow  from  the  proclamation  of  the 
person,  Christ.    I  am  not  such  a  fool  as  to  run  amuck 


T.  1]  THE  EVIL  EYE  AND  THE  CHARM  103 

against  theology,  as  some  people  in  this  day  do.  But 
what  I  wish  to  insist  upon  is  that  the  first  form  of 
Christianity  is  not  a  theory,  but  a  history,  and  that 
the  revelation  of  God  is  the  biography  of  a  man.  We 
must  begin  with  the  person,  Christ,  and  preach  Him. 
Would  that  all  our  preachers  and  all  professing 
Christians,  in  their  own  personal  religious  life,  had 
grasped  this — that,  since  Christianity  is  not  first  a 
philosophy  but  a  history,  and  its  centre  not  an  ordered 
sequence  of  doctrines  but  a  living  person,  the  act  that 
makes  a  man  possessor  of  Christianity  is  not  the 
intellectual  process  of  assimilating  certain  truths,  and 
accepting  them,  but  the  moral  process  of  clinging,  with 
trust  and  love,  to  the  person,  Jesus. 

But,  further,  if  any  of  you  consult  the  original,  you 
will  see  that  the  order  of  the  sentence  is  such  as  to 
throw  a  great  weight  of  emphasis  on  that  last  word 
'  crucified.'  It  is  not  merely  a  person  that  is  portrayed 
on  the  placard,  but  it  is  that  person  upon  the  Cross. 
Ah !  brethren,  Paul  himself  puts  his  finger,  in  the  words 
of  my  text,  on  what,  in  his  conception,  was  the  throbbing 
heart  of  all  his  message,  the  vital  point  from  which  all 
its  power,  and  all  the  gleam  of  its  benediction,  poured 
out  upon  humanity — '  Christ  crucified.'  If  the  placard 
is  a  picture  of  Christ  in  other  attitudes  and  in  other 
aspects,  without  the  picture  of  Him  crucified,  it  is 
an  imperfect  representation  of  the  Gospel  that  Paul 
preached  and  that  Christ  was. 

II.  Now,  think,  secondly,  of  the  fascinators  that  draw 
away  the  eyes. 

Paul's  question  is  not  one  of  ignorance,  but  it  is  a 
rhetorical  way  of  rebuking,  and  of  expressing  vt^onder. 
He  knew,  and  the  Galatians  knew,  well  enough  who  it 
was  that  had  bewitched  them.    The  whole  letter  is  a 


104  GALATIANS  [ch.  iii. 

polemic  worked  in  fire,  and  not  in  frost,  as  some  argu- 
mentation is,  against  a  very  well-marked  class  of 
teachers — viz.  those  emissaries  of  Judaism  who  had 
crept  into  the  Church,  and  took  it  as  their  special 
function  to  dog  Paul's  steps  amongst  the  heathen 
communities  that  he  had  gathered  together  through 
faith  in  Christ,  and  used  every  means  to  upset  his 
work. 

I  cannot  but  pause  for  a  moment  upon  this  original 
reference  of  my  text,  because  it  is  very  relevant  to  the 
present  condition  of  things  amongst  us.  These  men 
whom  Paul  is  fighting  as  if  he  were  in  a  sawpit  with 
them,  in  this  letter,  what  was  their  teaching  ?  This : 
they  did  not  deny  that  Jesus  was  the  Christ ;  they  did 
not  deny  that  faith  knit  a  man  to  Him,  but  what  they 
said  was  that  the  observance  of  the  external  rites 
of  Judaism  was  necessary  in  order  to  entrance  into 
the  Church  and  to  salvation.  They  did  not  in  their 
own  estimation  detract  from  Christ,  but  they  added 
to  Him.  And  Paul  says  that  to  add  is  to  detract,  to 
say  that  anything  is  necessary  except  faith  in  Jesus 
Christ's  finished  work  is  to  deny  that  that  finished 
work,  and  faith  in  it,  are  the  means  of  salvation ;  and 
the  whole  evangelical  system  crumbles  into  nothingness 
if  once  you  admit  that. 

Now,  is  there  anybody  to-day  who  is  saying  the  same 
things,  with  variations  consequent  upon  change  of 
external  conditions  ?  Are  there  no  people  within  the 
limits  of  the  Christian  Church  who  are  reiterating  the 
old  Jewish  notion  that  external  ceremonies — baptism 
and  the  Lord's  Supper — are  necessary  to  salvation  and 
to  connection  with  the  Christian  Church?  And  is  it 
not  true  now,  as  it  was  then,  that  though  they  do  not 
avowedly  detract,  they  so  represent  these  external  rites 


v.l]  THE  EVIL  EYE  AND  THE  CHARM  105 

as  to  detract,  from  the  sole  necessity  of  faith  in  the  per- 
fected work  of  Jesus  Christ  ?  The  centre  is  shifted  from 
personal  union  with  a  personal  Saviour  by  a  personal 
faith  to  participation  in  external  ordinances.  And  I 
venture  to  think  that  the  lava  stream  which,  in  this 
Epistle  to  the  Galatians,  Paul  pours  on  the  Judaisers 
of  his  day  needs  but  a  little  deflection  to  pour  its  hot 
current  over,  and  to  consume,  the  sacramentarian 
theories  of  this  day.  'O  foolish  Galatians,  who  hath 
bewitched  you  ? '  Is  it  not  like  some  malignant  sorcery, 
that  after  the  Evangelical  revival  of  the  last  century 
and  the  earlier  part  of  this,  there  should  spring  up 
again  this  old,  old  error,  and  darken  the  simplicity  of 
the  Gospel  teaching,  that  Christ's  work,  apprehended 
by  faith,  without  anything  else,  is  the  means,  and  the 
only  means,  of  salvation  ? 

But  I  need  not  spend  time  upon  that  original  appli- 
cation. Let  us  rather  come  more  closely  to  our  own 
individual  lives  and  their  weaknesses.  It  is  a  strange 
thing,  so  strange  that  if  one  did  not  know  it  by  one's 
own  self,  one  would  be  scarcely  disposed  to  believe  it 
possible,  that  a  man  who  has  '  tasted  the  good  word 
of  God  and  the  powers  of  the  world  to  come,'  and  has 
known  Jesus  Christ  as  Saviour  and  Friend,  should 
decline  from  Him,  and  turn  to  anything  besides.  And 
yet,  strange  and  sad,  and  like  some  enchantment  as  it 
is,  it  is  the  experience  at  times  and  in  a  measure,  of  us 
all ;  and,  alas !  it  is  the  experience,  in  a  very  tragical 
degree,  of  many  who  have  walked  for  a  little  while 
behind  the  Master,  and  then  have  turned  away  and 
walked  no  more  with  Him.  We  may  well  wonder; 
but  the  root  of  the  mischief  is  in  no  baleful  glitter  of 
a  sorcerer's  eye  without  us,  but  it  is  in  the  weakness  of 
our  own  wills  and  the  waywardness  of  our  own  hearts, 


106  GALATIANS  [ch.  in. 

and  the  wandering  of  our  own  affections.  We  often 
court  the  coming  of  the  evil  influence,  and  are  willing 
to  be  fascinated  and  to  turn  our  backs  upon  Jesus. 
Mysterious  it  is,  for  why  should  men  cast  away  diamonds 
for  paste?  Mysterious  it  is,  for  we  do  not  usually 
drop  the  substance  to  get  the  shadow.  Mysterious  it 
is,  for  a  man  does  not  ordinarily  empty  his  pockets  of 
gold  in  order  to  fill  them  with  gravel.  Mysterious  it 
is,  for  a  thirsty  man  will  not  usually  turn  away  from 
the  full,  bubbling,  living  fountain,  to  see  if  he  can  find 
any  drops  still  remaining,  green  with  scum,  stagnant 
and  odorous,  at  the  bottom  of  some  broken  cistern. 
But  all  these  follies  are  sanity  as  compared  with  the 
folly  of  which  we  are  guilty,  times  without  number, 
when,  having  known  the  sweetness  of  Jesus  Christ, 
we  turn  away  to  the  fascinations  of  the  world.  Custom, 
the  familiarity  that  we  have  with  Him,  the  attrition 
of  daily  cares — like  the  minute  grains  of  sand  that  are 
cemented  on  to  paper,  and  make  a  piece  of  sandpaper 
that  is  strong  enough  to  file  an  inscription  off  iron — 
the  seductions  of  worldly  delights,  the  pressure  of  our 
daily  cares — all  these  are  as  a  ring  of  sorcerers  that 
stand  round  about  us,  before  whom  we  are  as  powerless 
as  a  bird  in  the  presence  of  a  serpent,  and  they  bewitch 
us  and  draw  us  away. 

The  sad  fact  has  been  verified  over  and  over  again 
on  a  large  scale  in  the  history  of  the  Church.  After 
every  outburst  of  renewed  life  and  elevated  spirituality 
there  is  sure  to  come  a  period  of  reaction  when  torpor 
and  formality  again  assert  themselves.  What  followed 
the  Reformation  in  Germany?  A  century  of  death. 
What  followed  Puritanism  in  England  ?  An  outburst 
of  lust  and  godlessness. 

80  it  has  always  been,  and  so  it  is  with  us  individually, 


▼.  1]  THE  EVIL  EYE  AND  THE  CHARM  107 

as  we  too  well  know.  Ah,  brethren !  the  seductions  are 
omnipresent,  and  our  poor  eyes  are  very  weak,  and  we 
turn  away  from  the  Lord  to  look  on  these  misshapen 
monsters  that  are  seeking  by  their  gaze  to  draw  us  into 
destruction.  I  wonder  how  many  professing  Christians 
are  in  this  audience  who  once  saw  Jesus  Christ  a  great 
deal  more  clearly,  and  contemplated  Him  a  great  deal 
more  fixedly,  and  turned  their  hearts  to  Him  far  more 
lovingly,  than  they  do  to-day?  Some  of  the  great 
mountain  peaks  of  Africa  are  only  seen  for  an  hour  or 
two  in  the  morning,  and  then  the  clouds  gather  around 
them,  and  hide  them  for  the  rest  of  the  day.  It  is  like 
the  experience  of  many  professing  Christians,  who  see 
Him  in  the  morning  of  their  Christian  life  far  more 
vividly  than  they  ever  do  after.  *  Who  hath  bewitched 
you  ? '  The  world ;  but  the  arch-sorcerer  sits  safe  in 
our  own  hearts. 

III.  Lastly,  keeping  to  the  metaphor,  let  me  suggest, 
although  my  text  does  not  touch  upon  it,  the  Amulet. 

One  has  seen  fond  mothers  in  Egypt  and  Palestine 
who  hang  on  their  babies'  necks  charms,  to  shield  them 
from  the  influence  of  the  Evil  Eye;  and  there  is  a 
charm  that  we  may  wear  if  we  will,  which  will  keep 
us  safe.  There  is  no  fascination  in  the  Evil  Eye  if  you 
do  not  look  at  it. 

The  one  object  that  the  sorcerer  has  is  to  withdraw 
our  gaze  from  Christ;  it  is  not  illogical  to  say  that 
the  way  to  defeat  the  object  is  to  keep  our  gaze  fixed 
on  Christ.  If  you  do  not  look  at  the  baleful  glitter 
of  the  Evil  Eye  it  will  exercise  no  power  over  you; 
and  if  you  will  steadfastly  look  at  Him,  then,  and  only 
then,  you  will  not  look  at  it.  Like  Ulysses  in  the 
legend,  bandage  the  eyes  and  put  wax  in  the  ears, 
if  you  would  neither  be  tempted  by  hearing  the  songs, 


108  GALATIANS  [ch.  hi. 

nor  by  seeing  the  fair  forms,  of  the  sirens  on  their 
island.  To  look  fixedly  at  Jesus  Christ,  and  with  the 
resolve  never  to  turn  away  from  Him,  is  the  only  safety 
against  these  tempting  delights  around  us. 

But,  brethren,  it  is  the  crucified  Christ,  looking  to 
whom,  we  are  safe  amidst  all  seductions  and  snares. 
I  doubt  whether  a  Christ  who  did  not  die  for  men  has 
power  enough  over  men's  hearts  and  minds  to  draw 
them  to  Himself.  The  cords  which  bind  us  to  Him  are 
the  assurance  of  His  dying  love  which  has  conquered 
us.  If  only  we  will,  day  by  day,  and  moment  by 
moment,  as  we  pass  through  the  duties  and  distractions, 
the  temptations  and  the  trials,  of  this  present  life,  by 
an  act  of  will  and  thought  turn  ourselves  to  Him,  then 
all  the  glamour  of  false  attractiveness  will  disappear 
from  the  temptations  around  us,  and  we  shall  see  that 
the  sirens,  for  all  their  fair  forms,  end  in  loathly  fishes' 
tails  and  sit  amidst  dead  men's  bones. 

Brethren,  '  looking  off  unto  Jesus '  is  the  secret  of 
triumph  over  the  fascinations  of  the  world.  And  if 
we  will  habitually  so  look,  then  the  sweetness  that  we 
shall  experience  will  destroy  all  the  seducing  power  of 
lesser  and  earthly  sweetness,  and  the  blessed  light  of 
the  sun  will  dim  and  all  but  extinguish  the  deceitful 
gleams  that  tempt  us  into  the  swamps  where  we  shall 
be  drowned.  Turn  away,  then,  from  these  things; 
cleave  to  Jesus  Christ;  and  though  in  ourselves  we 
may  be  as  weak  as  a  humming-bird  before  a  snake, 
or  a  rabbit  before  a  tiger,  He  will  give  us  strength,  and 
the  light  of  His  face  shining  down  upon  us  will  fix 
our  eyes  and  make  us  insensible  to  the  fascinations 
of  the  sorcerers.  So  we  shall  not  need  to  dread  the 
question,  'Who  hath  bewitched  you?'  but  ourselves 
challenge  the  utmost  might  of  the  fascination  with 


▼.1]         LESSONS  OF  EXPERIENCE         109 

the  triumphant  question,  '  "Who  shall  separate  us  from 
the  love  of  Christ?' 

Help  us,  O  Lord !  we  beseech  Thee,  to  live  near  Thee. 
Turn  away  our  eyes  from  beholding  vanity,  and  enable 
us  to  set  the  Lord  always  before  us  that  we  be  not 
moved. 


LESSONS  OF  EXPERIENCE 

'Have  ye  suflfered  so  many  things  in  vain?'— Gal.  liL  i. 

This  vehement  question  is  usually  taken  to  be  a 
reminder  to  the  fickle  Galatians  that  their  Christian 
faith  had  brought  upon  them  much  suffering  from 
the  hands  of  their  unbelieving  brethren,  and  to  imply 
an  exhortation  to  faithfulness  to  the  Gospel  lest 
they  should  stultify  their  past  brave  endurance. 
Yielding  to  the  Judaising  teachers,  and  thereby  escap- 
ing the  •  offence  of  the  Cross,'  they  would  make  their 
past  sufferings  vain.  But  it  may  be  suggested  that 
the  word  '  suffered '  here  is  rather  used  in  what  is  its 
known  sense  elsewhere,  namely,  with  the  general  idea 
of  feeling,  the  nature  of  the  feeling  being  undefined. 
It  is  a  touching  proof  of  the  preponderance  of  pain 
and  sorrow  that  by  degrees  the  significance  of  the 
word  has  become  inextricably  intertwined  with  the 
thought  of  sadness  ;  still,  it  is  possible  to  take  it  in  the 
text  as  meaning  experienced  or  felt,  and  to  regard  the 
Apostle  as  referring  to  the  whole  of  the  Galatians'  past 
experience,  and  as  founding  his  appeal  for  their  stead- 
fastness on  all  the  joys  as  well  as  the  sorrows,  which 
their  faith  had  brought  them. 

^  Preached  on  the  last  Sunday  of  the  year. 


110  GALATIANS  [ch.  m. 

Taking  the  words  in  this  more  general  sense  they 
become  a  question  which  it  is  well  for  us  to  ask  our- 
selves at  such  a  time  as  this,  when  the  calendar 
naturally  invites  us  to  look  backwards  and  ask  our- 
selves what  we  have  made  of  all  our  experiences  in  the 
past,  or  rather  what,  by  the  help  of  them  all,  we  have 
made  of  ourselves. 

I.  The  duty  of  retrospect. 

For  almost  any  reason  it  is  good  for  us  to  be  de- 
livered from  our  prevailing  absorption  in  the  present. 
Whatever  counterpoises  the  overwhelming  weight  of 
the  present  is,  so  far,  a  blessing  and  a  good,  and  what- 
ever softens  the  heart  and  keeps  up  even  the  lingering 
remembrance  of  early,  dewy  freshness  and  of  the 
high  aspirations  which,  even  for  a  brief  space,  elevated 
our  past  selves  is  gain  amidst  the  dusty  commonplaces 
of  to-day.  We  see  things  better  and  more  clearly 
when  we  get  a  little  away  from  them,  as  a  face  is 
more  distinctly  visible  at  armslength  than  when  held 
close. 

But  our  retrospects  are  too  often  almost  as  trivial  and 
degrading  as  is  our  absorption  in  the  present,  and  to 
prevent  memory  from  becoming  a  minister  of  frivolity 
if  not  of  sin,  it  is  needful  that  such  a  question  as  that 
of  our  text  be  urgently  asked  by  each  of  us.  Memory 
must  be  in  closest  union  with  conscience,  as  all  our 
faculties  must  be,  or  she  is  of  little  use.  There  is  a 
mere  sentimental  luxury  of  memory  which  finds  a 
pensive  pleasure  in  the  mere  passing  out  from  the  hard 
present  into  the  soft  light,  not  without  illusion  in  its 
beams,  of  the  '  days  that  are  no  more.'  Merely  to  live 
over  again  our  sorrows  and  joys  without  any  clear  dis- 
cernment of  what  their  effects  on  our  moral  character 
have  been,  is  not  the  retrospect  that  becomes  a  man, 


Y.  4]         LESSONS  OF  EXPERIENCE         111 

however  it  might  suit  an  animal.  We  have  to  look 
back  as  a  man  might  do  escaping  from  the  ocean  on 
to  some  frail  sand-bank  which  ever  breaks  off  and 
crumbles  away  at  his  very  heels.  To  remember  the 
past  mainly  as  it  affected  our  joy  or  our  sorrow  is  as 
unworthy  as  to  regard  the  present  from  the  same 
point  of  view,  and  robs  both  of  their  highest  worth. 
To  remember  is  only  then  blessed  and  productive  of 
its  highest  possible  good  in  us,  when  the  question  of 
our  text  insists  on  being  faced,  and  the  object  of  retro- 
spect is  not  to  try  to  rekindle  the  cold  coals  of  past 
emotions,  but  to  ascertain  what  effect  on  our  present 
characters  our  past  experiences  have  had.  We  have 
not  to  turn  back  and  try  to  gather  some  lingering 
jQlowers,  but  to  look  for  the  fruit  which  has  followed 
the  fallen  blossoms. 

II.  The  true  test  for  the  past. 

The  question  of  our  text  implies,  as  we  have  already 
suggested,  that  our  whole  lives,  with  all  their  various 
and  often  opposite  experiences,  are  yet  an  ordered 
whole,  having  a  definite  end.  There  is  some  purpose 
beyond  the  moment  to  be  served.  Our  joys  and  our 
sorrows,  our  gains  and  our  losses,  the  bright  hours  and 
the  dark  hours,  and  the  hours  that  are  neither 
eminently  bright  nor  supremely  dark,  our  failures  and 
our  successes,  our  hopes  disappointed  or  fulfilled,  and 
all  the  infinite  variety  of  condition  and  environment 
through  which  our  varying  days  and  years  have  led 
us,  co-operate  for  one  end.  It  is  life  that  makes  men ; 
the  infant  is  a  bundle  of  possibilities,  and  as  the  years 
go  on,  one  possible  avenue  of  development  after 
another  is  blocked.  The  child  might  have  been  almost 
anything;  the  man  has  become  hardened  and  fixed 
into  one  shape. 


112  GALATIANS  [ch.iii. 

But  all  this  variety  of  impulses  and  complicated 
experiences  need  the  co-operation  of  the  man  himself 
if  they  are  to  reach  their  highest  results  in  him.  If  he 
is  simply  recipient  of  these  external  forces  acting  upon 
him,  they  will  shape  him  indeed,  but  he  will  be  a  poor 
creature.  Life  does  not  make  men  unless  men  take 
the  command  of  life,  and  he  who  lets  circumstances 
and  externals  guide  him,  as  the  long  water  weeds  in  a 
river  are  directed  by  its  current,  will,  from  the  highest 
point  of  view,  have  experienced  the  variations  of  a 
lifetime  in  vain. 

No  doubt  each  of  our  experiences  has  its  own  im- 
mediate and  lower  purpose  to  serve,  and  these  purposes 
are  generally  accomplished,  but  beyond  these  each  has 
a  further  aim  which  is  not  reached  without  diligent 
carefulness  and  persistent  effort  on  our  parts.  If  we 
would  be  sure  of  what  it  is  to  suffer  life's  experiences 
in  vain,  we  have  but  to  ask  ourselves  what  life  is 
given  us  for,  and  we  all  know  that  well  enough  to  be 
able  to  judge  how  far  we  have  used  life  to  attain  the 
highest  ends  of  living.  We  may  put  these  ends  in 
various  ways  in  our  investigation  of  the  results  of  our 
manifold  experiences.  Let  us  begin  with  the  lowest — 
we  received  life  that  we  might  learn  truth,  then  if  our 
experience  has  not  taught  us  wisdom  it  has  been  in 
vain.  It  is  deplorable  to  have  to  look  round  and  see 
how  little  the  multitude  of  men  are  capable  of  forming 
anything  like  an  independent  and  intelligent  opinion, 
and  how  they  are  swayed  by  gusts  of  passion,  by  blind 
prejudice,  by  pretenders  and  quacks  of  all  sorts.  It  is 
no  less  sad  for  us  to  turn  our  eyes  within  and  discover, 
perhaps  not  without  surprise  and  shame,  how  few  of 
what  we  are  self-complacent  enough  to  call  our 
opinions  are  due  to  our  own  convictions. 


V.4]         LESSONS  OF  EXPERIENCE         113 

If  we  ever  are  honest  enough  with  ourselves  to 
catch  a  glimpse  of  our  own  unwisdom,  the  question  of 
our  text  will  press  heavily  upon  us,  and  may  help  to 
make  us  wiser  by  teaching  us  how  foolish  we  are.  An 
infinite  source  of  wisdom  is  open  to  us,  and  all  the  rich 
variety  of  our  lives'  experiences  has  been  lavished  on 
us  to  help  us,  and  what  have  we  made  of  it  all  ? 

But  we  may  rise  a  step  higher  and  remember  that 
we  are  made  moral  creatures.  Therefore,  whatever 
has  not  developed  infant  potentialities  in  us,  and  made 
them  moral  qualities,  has  been  experienced  in  vain. 

*  Not  enjoyment  and  not  sorrow  is  our  destined  end  and 
way.'  Life  is  meant  to  make  us  love  and  do  the  good, 
and  unless  it  has  produced  that  effect  on  us,  it  has 
failed.  If  this  be  true,  the  world  is  full  of  failures,  like 
the  marred  statues  in  a  bad  sculptor's  studio,  and  we 
ourselves  have  earnestly  to  confess  that  the  discipline 
of  life  has  too  often  been  wasted  upon  us,  and  that  of 
us  the  divine  complaint  from  of  old  has  been  true : 

*  In  vain  have  I  smitten  thy  children,  they  have  received 
no  correction.' 

There  is  no  sadder  waste  than  the  waste  of  sorrow, 
and  alas !  we  all  know  how  impotent  our  afflictions 
have  been  to  make  us  better.  But  not  afflictions  only 
have  failed  in  their  appeal  to  us,  our  joys  have  as  often 
been  in  vain  as  our  sorrows,  and  memory,  when  it 
turns  its  lamp  on  the  long  past,  sees  so  few  points  at 
which  life  has  taught  us  to  love  goodness,  and  be  good, 
that  she  may  well  quench  her  light  and  let  the  dead 
past  bury  its  dead. 

But  we  must  rise  still  higher,  and  think  of  men  as 
being  made  for  God,  and  as  being  the  only  creatures 
known  to  us  who  are  capable  of  religion.  *  Man's  chief 
end  is  to  glorify  God  and  to  enjoy  Him  for  ever.'    And 

H 


114  GALATIANS  [ch.  in. 

this  chief  end  is  in  fullest  harmony  with  the  lower  ends 
to  which  we  have  just  referred,  and  they  will  never  be 
realised  in  their  fullest  completeness  unless  that  com- 
pleteness is  sought  in  this  the  chief  end.  From  of  old 
meditative  souls  have  known  that  the  beginning  of 
wisdom  is  the  fear  of  the  Lord,  and  that  that  fear  is  as 
certainly  the  beginning  of  goodness.  It  was  not  an 
irrelevant  rebuke  to  the  question,  *  What  good  thing 
shall  I  do  ? '  when  Jesus  set  the  eager  young  soul  who 
asked  it,  to  justify  to  himself  his  courteous  and  super- 
ficial application  to  Him  of  the  abused  and  vulgarised 
title  of  '  Good,'  and  pointed  him  to  God  as  the  only  Being 
to  whom  that  title,  in  its  perfectness,  could  be  given. 
If  '  there  is  none  good  but  one,  that  is  God,'  man's  good- 
ness must  be  drawn  from  Him,  and  morality  without 
religion  will  in  theory  be  incomplete,  and  in  practice 
a  delusion.  If,  then,  men  are  made  to  need  God,  and 
capable  of  possessing  Him,  and  of  being  possessed  by 
Him,  then  the  great  question  for  all  of  us  is,  has  life, 
with  all  its  rapid  whirl  of  changing  circumstance  and 
varying  fortunes,  drawn  us  closer  to  God,  and  made  us 
more  fit  to  receive  more  of  Him?  So  supreme  is  this 
chief  end  that  a  life  which  has  not  attained  it  can  only 
be  regarded  as  'in  vain' whatever  other  successes  it 
may  have  attained.  So  unspeakably  more  important 
and  necessary  is  it,  that  compared  with  it  all  else  sinks 
into  nothingness ;  hence  many  lives  which  are  dazzling 
successes  in  the  eyes  of  men  are  ghastly  failures  in 
reality. 

Now,  if  we  take  these  plain  principles  with  us  in  our 
retrospect  of  the  past  year  we  shall  be  launched  on  a 
very  serious  inquiry,  and  brought  face  to  face  with  a 
very  penitent  answer.  Some  of  us  may  have  had  great 
sorrows,  and  the  tears  may  be  scarcely  dry  upon  our 


V.  4]         LESSONS  OF  EXPERIENCE         115 

cheeks :  some  of  us  may  have  had  great  gladnesses, 
and  our  hearts  may  still  be  throbbing  with  the  thrill : 
some  of  us  may  have  had  great  successes,  and  some  of 
us  heavy  losses,  but  the  question  for  us  to  ask  is  not  of 
the  quality  of  our  past  experiences,  but  as  to  their 
effects  upon  us.  Has  life  been  so  used  by  us  as  to  help 
us  to  become  wiser,  better,  more  devout  ?  And  the 
answer  to  that  question,  if  we  are  honest  in  our 
scrutiny  of  ourselves,  and  if  memory  has  not  been  a 
mere  sentimental  luxury,  must  be  that  we  have  too 
often  been  but  unfaithful  recipients  alike  of  God's 
mercies  and  God's  chastisements,  and  have  received 
much  of  the  discipline  of  life,  and  remained  undis- 
ciplined. The  question  of  our  text,  if  asked  by  me, 
would  be  impertinent,  but  it  is  asked  of  each  of  us 
by  the  stern  voice  of  conscience,  and  for  some  of  us 
by  the  lips  of  dear  ones  whose  loss  has  been  among 
our  chief  est  sufferings.  God  asks  us  this  question,  and 
it  is  hard  to  make-believe  to  Him. 

III.  The  best  issue  of  the  retrospect. 

The  world  says,  'What  I  have  written  I  have  written,' 
and  there  is  a  very  solemn  and  terrible  reality  in  the 
thought  of  the  irrevocable  past.  Whether  life  has 
achieved  the  ends  for  which  it  was  given  or  no,  it 
has  achieved  some  ends.  It  may  have  made  us  into 
characters  the  very  opposite  of  God's  intention  for  us, 
but  it  has  made  us  into  certain  characters  which,  so 
far  as  the  world  sees,  can  never  be  unmade  or  re-made. 
The  world  harshly  preaches  the  indelibility  of  charac- 
ter, and  proclaims  that  the  Ethiopian  may  as  soon  be 
expected  to  change  his  skin  or  the  leopard  his  spots 
as  the  man  accustomed  to  do  evil  may  learn  to  do 
well.  That  dreary  fatalism  which  binds  the  effects  of  a 
dead  past  on  a  man's  shoulders,  and  forbids  him  to  hope 


116  GALATIANS  [ch.  hi. 

that  anything  will  obliterate  the  marks  of  •  what  once 
hath  been,'  is  in  violent  contradiction  to  the  large 
hope  brought  into  the  world  by  Jesus  Christ.  What 
we  have  written  we  have  written,  and  we  have  no 
power  to  erase  the  lines  and  make  the  sheet  clean 
again,  but  Jesus  Christ  has  taken  away  the  hand- 
writing '  that  was  against  us,'  nailing  it  to  His  cross. 
Instead  of  our  old  sin-worn  and  sin-marked  selves, 
He  proffers  to  each  of  us  a  new  self,  not  the  out- 
come of  what  we  have  been,  but  the  image  of  what 
He  is  and  the  prophecy  of  what  we  shall  be.  By 
the  great  gift  of  holiness  for  the  future  by  the  im- 
partation  of  His  own  life  and  spirit,  Jesus  makes 
all  things  new.  The  Gospel  recognises  to  the  full 
how  bad  some  who  have  received  it  were,  but  it  can 
willingly  admit  their  past  foulness,  because  it  contrasts 
with  all  that  former  filth  their  present  cleanness, 
and  to  the  most  inveterately  depraved  who  have 
trusted  in  Christ  rejoices  to  say,  '  Ye  were  washed,  ye 
were  sanctified,  ye  were  justified  in  the  name  of  the 
Lord  Jesus  Christ.' 


THE  UNIVERSAL  PRISON 

'Bat  the  Scripture  hath  concluded  all  under  sin,  that  the  promise  by  faith  of 
Jesus  Christ  might  be  given  to  them  that  believe.'— Gal.  iii.  22. 

The  Apostle  uses  here  a  striking  and  solemn  figure, 
which  is  much  veiled  for  the  English  reader  by  the 
ambiguity  attaching  to  the  word  'concluded.'  It 
literally  means  '  shut  up,'  and  is  to  be  taken  in  its 
literal  sense  of  confining,  and  not  in  its  secondary 
sense  of  inferring.  So,  then,  we  are  to  conceive  of  a 
vast  prison-house  in  which  mankind  is  confined.    And 


▼.  22]        THE  UNIVERSAL  PRISON  117 

then,  very  characteristically,  the  Apostle  passes  at 
once  to  another  metaphor  when  he  goes  on  to  say 
*  under  sin.'  What  a  moment  before  had  presented 
itself  to  his  vivid  imagination  as  a  great  dungeon  is 
now  represented  as  a  heavy  weight,  pressing  down 
upon  those  beneath;  if,  indeed,  we  are  not,  perhaps, 
rather  to  think  of  the  low  roof  of  the  dark  dungeon 
as  weighing  on  the  captives. 

Further,  he  says  that  Scripture  has  driven  men  into 
this  captivity.  That,  of  course,  cannot  mean  that 
revelation  makes  us  sinners,  but  it  does  mean  that  it 
makes  us  more  guilty,  and  that  it  declares  the  fact  of 
human  sinfulness  as  no  other  voice  has  ever  done. 
And  then  the  grimness  of  the  picture  is  all  relieved 
and  explained,  and  the  office  ascribed  to  God's  revela- 
tion harmonised  with  God's  love,  by  the  strong,  steady 
beam  of  light  that  falls  from  the  last  words,  which  tell 
us  that  the  prisoners  have  not  been  bound  in  chains  for 
despair  or  death,  but  in  order  that,  gathered  together 
in  a  common  doleful  destiny,  they  may  become  re- 
cipients of  a  common  blessed  salvation,  and  emerge 
into  liberty  and  light  through  faith  in  Jesus  Christ. 

So  here  are  three  things — the  prison-house,  its 
guardian,  and  its  breaker.  *  The  Scripture  hath  shut 
up  all  under  sin,  in  order  that  the  promise  by  faith 
of  Jesus  Christ  might  be  given  unto  all  them  that 
believe.' 

I.  First,  then,  note  the  universal  prison-house. 

Now  the  Apostle  says  two  things — and  we  may  put 
away  the  figure  and  look  at  the  facts  that  underlie  it. 
The  one  is  that  all  sin  is  imprisonment,  the  other  is 
that  all  men  are  in  that  dungeon,  unless  they  have 
come  out  of  it  through  faith  in  Jesus  Christ. 

All  sin  is  imprisonment.     That  is  the  direct  contrary 


118  GALATIANS  [ch.  in. 

of  the  notion  that  many  people  have.  They  say  to 
themselves,  'Why  should  I  be  fettered  and  confined 
by  these  antiquated  restrictions  of  a  conventional 
morality  ?  Why  should  I  not  break  the  bonds,  and  do 
as  I  like?*  And  they  laugh  at  Christian  people  who 
recognise  the  limitations  under  which  God's  law  has 
put  them ;  and  tell  us  that  we  are  *  cold-blooded  folks 
who  live  by  rule,'  and  contrast  their  own  broad  'emanci- 
pation from  narrow  prejudice.'  But  the  reality  is  the 
other  way.  The  man  who  does  wrong  is  a  slave  in  the 
measure  in  which  he  does  it.  If  you  want  to  find  out 
— and  mark  this,  you  young  people,  who  may  be 
deceived  by  the  false  contrasts  between  the  restraints 
of  duty  and  the  freedom  of  living  a  dissolute  life — if 
you  want  to  find  out  how  utterly  '  he  that  committeth 
sin  is  the  slave  of  sin,*  try  to  break  it  oS,  and  you  will 
find  it  out  fast  enough.  We  all  know,  alas!  the  im- 
potence of  the  will  when  it  comes  to  hand  grips  with 
some  evil  to  which  we  have  become  habituated ;  and 
how  we  determine  and  determine,  and  try,  and  fail, 
and  determine  again,  with  no  better  result.  We  are 
the  slaves  of  our  own  passions  ;  and  no  man  is  free  who 
is  hindered  by  his  lower  self  from  doing  that  which  his 
better  self  tells  him  he  ought  to  do.  The  tempter 
comes  to  you,  and  says,  'Come  and  do  this  thing,  just 
for  once.  You  can  leave  off  when  you  like,  you  know. 
There  is  no  need  to  do  it  a  second  time.'  And  when 
you  have  done  it,  he  changes  his  note,  and  says, '  Ah ! 
you  are  in,  and  you  cannot  get  out.  You  have  done  it 
once;  and  in  my  vocabulary  once  means  twice,  and 
once  and  twice  mean  always.' 

Insane  people  are  sometimes  tempted  into  a  house  of 
detention  by  being  made  to  believe  that  it  is  a  grand 
mansion,  where  they  are  just  going  to  pay  a  flying 


Y.22]        THE  UNIVERSAL  PRISON  119 

visit,  and  can  come  away  when  they  like.  But  once 
inside  the  walls,  they  never  get  past  the  lodge  gates 
any  more.  The  foolish  birds  do  not  know  that  there  is 
lime  on  the  twigs,  and  their  little  feet  get  fastened  to 
the  branch,  and  their  wings  flutter  in  vain.  '  He  that 
committeth  sin  is  the  slave  of  sin — shut  up,'  dungeoned, 
•under  sin.' 

But  do  not  forget,  either,  the  other  metaphor  in  our 
text,  in  which  the  Apostle,  with  characteristic  rapidity, 
and  to  the  horror  of  rhetorical  propriety,  passes  at 
once  from  the  thought  of  a  dungeon  to  the  thought 
of  an  impending  weight,  and  says,  'Shut  up  under 
sin.' 

What  does  that  mean  ?  It  means  that  we  are  guilty 
when  we  have  done  wrong ;  and  it  means  that  we  are 
under  penalties  which  are  sure  to  follow.  No  deed 
that  we  do,  howsoever  it  may  fade  from  the  tablets  of 
our  memory,  but  writes  in  visible  characters,  in  pro- 
portion to  its  magnitude,  upon  our  characters  and  lives. 
All  human  acts  have  perpetual  consequences.  The 
kick  of  the  rifle  against  the  shoulder  of  the  man  that 
fires  it  is  as  certain  as  the  flight  of  the  bullet  from  its 
muzzle.  The  chalk  cliffs  that  rise  above  the  Channel 
entomb  and  perpetuate  the  relics  of  myriads  of 
evanescent  lives ;  and  our  fleeting  deeds  are  similarly 
preserved  in  our  present  selves.  Everything  that  a 
man  wills,  whether  it  passes  into  external  act  or  not, 
leaves,  in  its  measure,  ineffaceable  impressions  on  him- 
self. And  so  we  are  not  only  dungeoned  in,  but  weighed 
upon  by,  and  lie  under,  the  evil  that  we  do. 

Nor,  dear  friends,  dare  I  pass  in  silence  what  is  too 
often  passed  in  silence  in  the  modern  pulpit,  the  plain 
fact  that  there  is  a  future  waiting  for  each  of  us 
beyond  the  grave,  of  which  the  most  certain  character- 


120  GALATIANS  [ch.  hi. 

istic,  certified  by  our  own  forebodings,  required  by  the 
reasonableness  of  creation,  and  made  plain  by  the 
revelation  of  Scripture,  is  that  it  is  a  future  of  retri- 
bution, where  we  shall  have  to  carry  our  works ;  and 
as  we  have  brewed  so  shall  we  drink;  and  the  beds 
that  we  have  made  we  shall  have  to  lie  upon.  '  God 
shut  up  all  under  sin.* 

Note,  again,  the  universality  of  the  imprisonment. 

Now  I  am  not  going  to  exaggerate,  I  hope.  I  want 
to  keep  well  within  the  limits  of  fact,  and  to  say 
nothing  that  is  not  endorsed  by  your  own  consciences, 
if  you  will  be  honest  with  yourselves.  And  I  say  that 
the  Bible  does  not  charge  men  universally  with  gross 
transgressions.  It  does  not  talk  about  the  virtues  that 
grow  in  the  open  as  if  they  were  splendid  vices  ;  but  it 
does  say,  and  I  ask  you  if  our  own  hearts  do  not  tell 
us  that  it  says  truly,  that  no  man  is,  or  has  been,  does, 
or  has  done,  that  which  his  own  conscience  tells  him 
he  should  have  been  and  done.  We  are  all  ready  to 
admit  faults,  in  a  general  way,  and  to  confess  that  we 
have  come  short  of  what  our  own  consciousness  tells 
us  we  ought  to  be.  But  I  want  you  to  take  the  other 
step,  and  to  remember  that  since  we  each  stand  in  a 
personal  relation  to  God,  therefore  all  imperfections, 
faults,  negligences,  shortcomings,  and,  still  more, 
transgressions  of  morality,  or  of  the  higher  aspirations 
of  our  lives,  are  sins.  Because  sin — to  use  fine  words 
— is  the  correlative  of  God.  Or,  to  put  it  into  plainer 
language,  the  deeds  which  in  regard  to  law  may  be 
crimes,  or  those  which  in  regard  to  morality  may  be 
vices,  or  in  regard  to  our  own  convictions  of  duty  may 
be  shortcomings,  seeing  they  all  have  some  reference 
to  Him,  assume  a  very  much  graver  character,  and 
tbey  are  all  sins. 


y.  22]        THE  UNIVERSAL  PRISON  121 

Oh,  brethren,  if  we  realise  how  intimately  and  in- 
separably we  are  knit  to  God,  and  how  everything  that 
we  do,  and  do  not  do,  but  should  have  done,  has  an 
aspect  in  reference  to  Him,  I  think  we  should  be  leas 
unwilling  to  admit,  and  less  tinged  with  levity  and 
carelessness  in  admitting,  that  all  our  faults  are  trans- 
gressions of  His  law,  and  we  should  find  ourselves 
more  frequently  on  our  knees  before  Him,  with  the 
penitent  words  on  our  lips  and  in  our  hearts, '  Against 
Thee,  Thee  only  have  I  sinned,  and  done  this  evil  in  Thy 
sight.' 

That  was  the  prayer  of  a  man  who  had  done  a  foul 
evil  in  other  people's  sight ;  who  had  managed  to 
accumulate  about  as  many  offences  to  as  many  people 
in  one  deed  as  was  possible.  For,  as  a  king  he  had 
sinned  against  his  nation,  as  a  friend  he  had  sinned 
against  his  companion,  as  a  captain  he  had  sinned 
against  his  brave  subordinate,  as  a  husband  he  had 
sinned  against  his  wife,  and  he  had  sinned  against 
Bathsheba.  And  yet,  with  all  that  tangle  of  offences 
against  all  these  people,  he  says, '  Against  Thee,  Thee 
only.'  Yes !  Because,  accurately  speaking,  the  sin 
had  reference  to  God,  and  to  God  alone.  And  I  wish 
for  myself  and  for  you  to  cultivate  the  habit  of  con- 
necting, thus,  all  our  actions,  and  especially  our  imper- 
fections and  our  faults,  with  the  thought  of  God,  that 
we  may  learn  how  universal  is  the  enclosure  of  man 
in  this  dreadful  prison-house. 

II.  And  so,  I  come,  in  the  second  place,  to  look  at  the 
guardian  of  the  prison. 

That  is  a  strange  phrase  of  my  text  attributing  the 
shutting  of  men  up  in  this  prison-house  to  the  merciful 
revelation  of  God  in  the  Scripture.  And  it  is  made 
still  more  striking  and  strange  by  another  edition  of 


122  GALATIANS  [oh.  hi. 

the  same  expression  in  the  Epistle  to  the  Romans, 
where  Paul  directly  traces  the  '  concluding  all  in  dis- 
obedience '  to  God  Himself. 

There  may  be  other  subtle  thoughts  connected  with 
that  expression  which  I  do  not  need  to  enter  upon 
now.  But  one  that  I  would  dwell  upon,  for  a  moment, 
is  this,  that  one  great  purpose  of  Scripture  is  to  con- 
vince us  that  we  are  sinful  in  God's  sight.  I  do  not 
need  to  remind  you,  I  suppose,  how  that  was,  one 
might  almost  say,  the  dominant  intention  of  the  whole 
of  the  ceremonial  and  moral  law  of  Israel,  and  explains 
its  many  else  inexplicable  and  apparently  petty  com- 
mandments and  prohibitions.  They  were  all  meant  to 
emphasise  the  difference  between  right  and  wrong, 
obedience  and  disobedience,  and  so  to  drive  home  to 
men's  hearts  the  consciousness  that  they  had  broken 
the  commandments  of  the  living  God.  And  although 
the  Gospel  comes  with  a  very  different  guise  from  that 
ancient  order,  and  is  primarily  gift  and  not  law,  a 
Gospel  of  forgiveness,  and  not  the  promulgation  of 
duty  or  the  threatening  of  condemnation,  yet  it,  too, 
has  for  one  of  its  main  purposes,  which  must  be  accom- 
plished in  us  before  it  can  reach  its  highest  aim  in  us, 
the  kindling  in  men's  hearts  of  the  same  consciousness 
that  they  are  sinful  men  in  God's  sight. 

Ah,  brethren,  we  all  need  it.  There  is  nothing  that 
we  need  more  than  to  have  driven  deep  into  us  the 
penetrating  point  of  that  conviction.  There  must  be 
some  external  standard  by  which  men  may  be  con- 
vinced of  their  sinfulness,  for  they  carry  no  such 
standard  within  them.  Your  conscience  is  only  you 
judging  on  moral  questions,  and,  of  course,  as  you 
change,  it  will  change  too.  A  man's  whole  state  deter- 
mines the  voice  with  which  conscience  shall  speak  to 


▼.  22]        THE  UNIVERSAL  PRISON  123 

him,  and  so  the  worse  he  is,  and  the  more  he  needs  it, 
the  less  he  has  it.  The  rebels  cut  the  telegraph  wires. 
The  waves  break  the  bell  that  hangs  on  the  reef,  and  so 
the  black  rocks  get  many  a  wreck  to  gnaw  with  their 
sharp  teeth.  A  man  makes  his  conscience  dumb  by 
the  very  sins  that  require  a  conscience  trumpet-tongued 
to  reprehend  them.  And  therefore  it  needs  that  God 
should  speak  from  Heaven,  and  say  to  us,  '  Thou  art 
the  man,'  or  else  we  pass  by  all  these  grave  things 
that  I  am  trying  to  urge  upon  you  now,  and  fall  back 
upon  our  complacency  and  our  levity  and  our  unwill- 
ingness to  take  stock  of  ourselves,  and  front  the  facts 
of  our  condition.  And  so  we  build  up  a  barrier  between 
ourselves  and  God,  and  God's  grace,  which  nothing 
short  of  that  grace  and  an  omnipotent  love  and  an  all- 
powerful  Redeemer  can  ever  pull  down. 

I  wish  to  urge  in  a  few  words,  yet  with  much 
earnestness,  this  thought,  that  until  we  have  laid  to 
heart  God's  message  about  our  own  personal  sinfulness 
we  have  not  got  to  the  place  where  we  can  in  the  least 
understand  the  true  meaning  of  His  Gospel,  or  the 
true  work  of  His  Son.  May  I  say  that  I,  for  one,  am 
old-fashioned  enough  to  look  with  great  apprehension 
on  certain  tendencies  of  present-day  presentations  of 
Christianity  which,  whilst  they  dwell  much  upon  the 
social  blessings  which  it  brings,  do  seem  to  me  to  be  in 
great  peril  of  obscuring  the  central  characteristic  of 
the  Gospel,  that  it  is  addressed  to  sinful  men,  and  that 
the  only  way  by  which  individuals  can  come  to  the  pos- 
session of  any  of  its  blessings  is  by  coming  as  penitent 
sinners,  and  casting  themselves  on  the  mercy  of  God  in 
Jesus  Christ?  The  beginning  of  all  lies  here,  where  Paul 
puts  it,  *  the  Scripture  hath  herded  all  men,'  in  droves, 
into  the  prison,  that  it  might  have  mercy  upon  all. 


124  GALATIANS  [cH.m. 

Dear  friend,  as  the  old  proverb  has  it,  deceit  lurks  in 
generalities.  I  have  no  doubt  you  are  perfectly  willing 
to  admit  that  all  are  sinful.  Come  a  little  closer  to  the 
truth,  I  beseech  you,  and  say  each  is  sinful,  and  I  am 
one  of  the  captives. 

III.  And  so,  lastly,  the  breaker  of  the  prison-house. 

I  need  not  spend  your  time  in  commenting  on  the 
final  vrords  of  this  text.  Suffice  it  to  gather  their 
general  purport  and  scope.  The  apparently  stern 
treatment  which  God  by  revelation  applies  to  the 
whole  mass  of  mankind  is  really  the  tenderest  bene- 
ficence. He  has  shut  them  up  in  the  prison-house  in 
order  that,  thus  shut  up,  they  may  the  more  eagerly 
apprehend  and  welcome  the  advent  of  the  Deliverer. 
He  tells  us  each  our  state,  in  order  that  we  may  the 
more  long  for,  and  the  more  closely  grasp,  the  great 
mercy  which  reverses  the  state.  And  so  how  shallow 
and  how  unfair  it  is  to  talk  about  evangelical  Christi- 
anity as  being  gloomy,  stern,  or  misanthropical !  You 
do  not  call  a  doctor  unkind  because  he  tells  an  unsus- 
pecting patient  that  his  disease  is  far  advanced,  and 
that  if  it  is  not  cured  it  will  be  fatal.  No  more  should 
a  man  turn  away  from  Christianity,  or  think  it  harsh 
and  sour,  because  it  speaks  plain  truths.  The  question 
is,  are  they  true  ?  not,  are  they  unpleasant  ? 

If  you  and  I,  and  all  our  fellows,  are  shut  up  in  this 
prison-house  of  sin,  then  it  is  quite  clear  that  none  of 
us  can  do  anything  to  get  ourselves  out.  And  so  the 
way  is  prepared  for  that  great  message  with  which 
Jesus  opened  His  ministry,  and  which,  whilst  it  has  a 
far  wider  application,  and  reference  to  social  as  well  as 
to  individual  evils,  begins  with  the  proclamation  of 
liberty  to  the  captives,  and  the  opening  of  the  prison 
to  them  that  are  bound. 


V.  22]        THE  UNIVERSAL  PRISON  125 

There  was  once  a  Roman  emperor  who  wished  that 
all  his  enemies  had  one  neck,  that  he  might  slay  them 
all  at  one  blow.  The  wish  is  a  fact  in  regard  to  Christ 
and  His  work,  for  by  it  all  our  tyrants  have  been 
smitten  to  death  by  one  stroke  ;  and  the  death  of  Jesus 
Christ  has  been  the  death  of  sin  and  death  and  hell — 
of  sin  in  its  power,  in  its  guilt,  and  in  its  penalty.  He 
has  come  into  the  prison-house,  and  torn  the  bars 
away,  and  opened  the  fetters,  and  every  man  may, 
if  he  will,  come  out  into  the  blessed  sunshine  and 
expatiate  there. 

And  if,  brethren,  it  is  true  that  the  universal 
prison-house  is  opened  by  the  death  of  Jesua 
Christ,  who  is  the  Propitiation  for  the  sins  of  the 
whole  world,  and  the  power  by  which  the  most 
polluted  may  become  clean,  then  there  follows,  as 
plainly,  that  the  only  thing  which  we  have  to  do 
is,  recognising  and  feeling  our  bound  impotence,  to 
stretch  out  chained  hands  and  take  the  gift  that  He 
brings.  Since  all  is  done  for  each  of  us,  and  since  none 
of  us  can  do  sufficient  for  himself  to  break  the  bond, 
then  what  we  should  do  is  to  trust  to  Him  who  has 
broken  every  chain  and  let  the  oppressed  go  free. 

Oh,  dear  friend,  if  you  want  to  get  to  the  heart  of 
the  sweetness  and  the  blessedness  and  power  of  the 
Gospel,  you  must  begin  here,  with  the  clear  and 
penitent  consciousness  that  you  are  a  sinful  man  in 
God's  sight,  and  can  do  nothing  to  cleanse,  help,  or 
liberate  yourself.  Is  Jesus  Christ  the  breaker  of  the 
bond  for  you  ?  Do  you  learn  from  Him  what  your 
need  is  ?  Do  you  trust  yourself  to  Him  for  pardon,  for 
cleansing,  for  emancipation  ?  Unless  you  do,  you  will 
never  know  His  most  precious  preeiousness,  and  you 
have  little  right  to  call  yourself  a  Christian.    If  you 


126  GALATIANS  [ch.iv. 

do,  oh,  then  a  great  light  will  shine  in  the  prison-house, 
and  your  chains  will  drop  from  your  wrists,  and  the 
iron  door  will  open  of  its  own  accord,  and  you  will 
come  out  into  the  morning  sunshine  of  a  new  day, 
because  you  have  confessed  and  abhorred  the  bondage 
into  w^hich  you  have  cast  yourselves,  and  accepted  the 
liberty  wherewith  Christ  hath  made  you  free. 


THE  SON  SENT 

'  When  the  fulness  of  the  time  came,  God  sent  forth  His  Son,  bom  of  a  woman, 

born  under  the  law,  that  He  might  redeem  them  which  were  under  the  law,  that  we 
might  receive  the  adoption  of  sons.'— Gal.  iv.  4,  5  (R.V.). 

It  is  generally  supposed  that  by  the  *  fulness  of  time' 
Paul  means  to  indicate  that  Christ  came  at  the  moment 
when  the  world  was  especially  prepared  to  receive 
Him,  and  no  doubt  that  is  a  true  thought.  The  Jews 
had  been  trained  by  law  to  the  conviction  of  sin : 
heathenism  had  tried  its  utmost,  had  reached  the  full 
height  of  its  possible  development,  and  was  decaying. 
Rome  had  politically  prepared  the  way  for  the  spread 
of  the  Gospel.  Vague  expectations  of  coming  change 
found  utterance  even  from  the  lips  of  Roman  courtier 
poets,  and  a  feeling  of  unrest  and  anticipation  pervaded 
society;  but  while  no  doubt  all  this  is  true  and  becomes 
more  certain  the  more  we  know  of  the  state  of  things 
into  which  Christ  came,  it  is  to  be  noted  that  Paul  is 
not  thinking  of  the  fulness  of  time  primarily  in  refer- 
ence to  the  world  which  received  Him,  but  to  the  Father 
who  sent  Him.  Our  text  immediately  follows  words 
in  which  the  air  is  described  as  being  '  under  guardians 
and  stewards'  until  the  time  appointed  of  His  Father, 
and  the  fulness  of  time  is  therefore  the  moment  which 
God  had  ordained  from  the  beginning  for  His  coming. 


vs.  4, 6]  THE  SON  SENT  127 

He,  from  of  old,  had  willed  that  at  that  moment  this 
Son  should  be  born,  and  it  is  to  the  punctual  accom- 
plishment of  His  eternal  purpose  that  Paul  here  directs 
our  thoughts.  No  doubt  the  world's  preparedness  is 
part  of  the  reason  for  the  divine  determination  of  the 
time,  but  it  is  that  divine  determination  rather  than 
the  world's  preparedness  to  which  the  first  words  of 
our  text  must  be  taken  to  refer. 

The  remaining  portion  of  our  text  is  so  full  of  mean- 
ing that  one  shrinks  from  attempting  to  deal  with  it 
in  our  narrow  space,  but  though  it  opens  up  depths 
beyond  our  fathoming,  and  gathers  into  one  concen- 
trated brightness  lights  on  which  our  dim  eyes  can 
hardly  look,  we  may  venture  to  attempt  some  imper- 
fect consideration  even  of  these  great  words.  Follow- 
ing their  course  of  thought  we  may  deal  with 

I.  The  njystery  of  love  that  sent. 

The  most  frequent  form  under  which  the  great  fact 
of  the  incarnation  is  represented  in  Scripture  is  that 
of  our  text — '  God  sent  His  Son.'  It  is  familiar  on  the 
lips  of  Jesus,  but  He  also  says  that  *  God  gave  His  Son.' 
One  can  feel  a  shade  of  difference  in  the  two  modes  of 
expression.  The  former  bringing  rather  to  our  thoughts 
the  representative  character  of  the  Son  as  Messenger, 
and  the  latter  going  still  deeper  into  the  mystery  of 
Godhead  and  bringing  into  view  the  love  of  the 
Father  who  spared  not  His  Son  but  freely  bestowed 
Him  on  men.  Yet  another  word  is  used  by  Jesus  Him- 
self when  He  says,  •  I  came  forth  from  God,'  and  that 
expression  brings  into  view  the  perfect  willingness 
with  which  the  Son  accepted  the  mission  and  gave 
Himself,  as  well  as  was  given  by  God.  All  three  phases 
express  harmonious,  though  slightly  differing  aspects 
of  the  same  fact,  as  the  facets  of  a  diamond  might 


128  GALATIANS  [ch.  iv. 

flash  into  different  colours,  and  all  must  be  held  fast  if 
we  would  understand  the  unspeakable  gift  of  God« 
Jesus  was  sent;  Jesus  was  given;  Jesus  came.  The 
mission  from  the  Father,  the  love  of  the  Father,  the 
glad  obedience  of  the  Son,  must  ever  be  recognised  as 
interpenetrating,  and  all  present  in  that  supreme  act. 

There  have  been  many  men  specially  sent  forth  from 
God,  whose  personal  existence  began  with  their  birth, 
and  so  far  as  the  words  are  concerned,  Jesus  might 
have  been  one  of  these.  There  was  a  man  sent  from 
God  whose  name  was  John,  and  all  through  the  ages 
he  has  had  many  companions  in  his  mission,  but  there 
has  been  only  one  who  '  came '  as  well  as  '  was  sent,' 
and  He  is  the  true  light  which  lighteth  every  man. 
To  speak  in  theological  language  of  the  pre-existence 
of  the  Son  is  cold,  and  may  obscure  the  truth  which  it 
formulates  in  so  abstract  a  fashion,  and  may  rob  it  of 
power  to  awe  and  impress.  But  there  can  be  no 
question  that  in  our  text,  as  is  shown  by  the  juxtaposi- 
tion of  '  sent '  and  *  born,'  and  in  all  the  New  Testament 
references  to  the  subject,  the  birth  of  Jesus  is  not 
regarded  as  the  beginning  of  the  being  of  the  Son. 
The  one  lies  far  back  in  the  depths  of  eternity  and  the 
mystery  of  the  divine  nature,  the  other  is  a  historical 
fact  occurring  in  a  definite  place  and  at  a  dated 
moment.  Before  time  was  the  Son  was,  delighting  in 
the  Father,  and  '  in  the  beginning  was  the  word  and 
the  word  was  with  God,'  and  He  who  in  respect  of  His 
expression  of  the  Father's  mind  and  will  was  the  Word, 
was  the  Son  in  respect  of  the  love  that  bound  the 
Father  and  Him  in  one.  Into  the  mysteries  of  that 
love  and  union  no  eyes  can  penetrate,  but  unless  our 
faith  lays  hold  of  it,  we  know  not  the  God  whom  Jesus 
has  declared  to  us.    The  mysteries  of  that  divine  union 


▼.5]  THE  SON  SENT  129 

and  communion  lie  beyond  our  reach,  but  well  within 
the  grasp  of  our  faith  and  the  work  of  the  Son  in  the 
world,  ever  since  there  was  a  world,  is  not  obscurely 
declared  to  all  who  have  eyes  to  see  and  hearts  to 
understand.  For  He  has  through  all  ages  been  the 
active  energy  of  the  divine  power,  or  as  the  Old  Testa- 
ment words  it,  'The  Arm  of  the  Lord,'  the  Agent  of 
creation,  the  Revealer  of  God,  the  Light  of  the  world 
and  the  Director  of  Providence.  '  He  was  in  the  world 
and  the  world  was  made  by  Him,  and  the  world  knew 
Him  not.' 

Now  all  this  teaching  that  the  Son  was  long  before 
Jesus  was  born  is  no  mere  mysterious  dogma  without 
bearing  on  daily  needs,  but  stands  in  the  closest  con- 
nection with  Christ's  work  and  our  faith  in  it.  It  is  the 
guarantee  of  His  representative  character;  on  it  de- 
pends the  reliableness  of  His  revelation  of  God.  Unless 
He  is  the  Son  in  a  unique  sense,  how  could  God  have 
spoken  unto  us  in  Him,  and  how  could  we  rely  on  His 
words?  Unless  He  was  '  the  effulgence  of  His  glory  and 
the  express  image  of  His  person':  how  could  we  be 
sure  that  the  light  of  His  countenance  was  light  from 
God  and  that  in  His  person  God  was  so  presented  as 
that  he  who  had  seen  Him  had  seen  the  Father  ?  The 
completeness  and  veracity  of  His  revelation,  the  authori- 
tative fulness  of  His  law,  the  efficacy  of  His  sacrifice 
and  the  prevalence  of  His  intercession  all  depend  on 
the  fact  of  His  divine  life  with  God  long  before  His 
human  life  with  men.  It  is  a  plain  historical  fact  that 
a  Christianity  which  has  no  place  for  a  pre-existent 
Son  in  the  bosom  of  the  Father  has  only  a  maimed 
Christ  in  reference  to  the  needs  of  sinful  men.  If  our 
Christ  were  not  the  eternal  Son  of  God,  He  will  not  be 
the  universal  Saviour  of  men. 

I 


130  GALATIANS  [ch.  iv. 

Nor  is  this  truth  less  needful  in  its  bearing  on  modem 
theories  which  will  have  nothing  to  say  to  the  super- 
natural, and  in  a  fatalistic  fashion  regard  history  as 
all  the  result  of  an  orderly  evolution  in  which  the 
importance  of  personal  agents  is  minimised.  To  it 
Jesus,  like  all  other  great  men,  is  a  product  of  His  age, 
and  the  immediate  result  of  the  conditions  under  which 
He  appeared.  But  when  we  look  far  beyond  the  manger 
of  Bethlehem  into  the  depths  of  Eternity  and  see  God 
so  loving  the  world  as  to  give  His  Son,  we  cannot  but 
recognise  that  He  has  intervened  in  the  course  of 
human  history  and  that  the  mightiest  force  in  the 
development  of  man  is  the  eternal  Son  whom  He  sent 
to  save  the  world. 

II.  The  miracle  of  lowliness  that  came. 

The  Apostle  goes  on  from  describing  the  great  fact 
which  took  place  in  heaven  to  set  forth  the  great  fact 
which  completed  it  on  earth.  The  sending  of  the  Son 
took  effect  in  the  birth  of  Jesus,  and  the  Apostle  puts 
it  under  two  forms,  both  of  which  are  plainly  designed 
to  present  Christ's  manhood  as  His  full  identification  of 
Himself  with  us.  The  Son  of  God  became  the  son  of  a 
woman ;  from  His  mother  He  drew  a  true  and  complete 
humanity  in  body  and  soul.  The  humanity  which  He 
received  was  sufficiently  kindred  with  the  divinity 
which  received  it  to  make  it  possible  that  the  one 
should  dwell  in  the  other  and  be  one  person.  As  born 
of  a  woman  the  Son  of  God  took  upon  Himself  all 
human  experiences,  became  capable  of  sharing  our 
pure  emotions,  wept  our  tears,  partook  in  our  joys, 
hoped  and  feared  as  we  do,  was  subject  to  our  changes, 
grew  as  we  grow,  and  in  everything  but  sin,  was  a  man 
amongst  men. 

But  the  Sou  of  God  could  not  be  as  the  sons  of  meu. 


▼.5]  THE  SON  SENT  131 

Him  the  Father  heard  always.  Even  when  He  came 
down  from  Heaven  and  became  the  Son  of  Man,  He 
continued  to  be  *  The  Son  of  Man  which  is  in  Heaven.' 
Amid  all  the  distractions  and  limitations  of  His  earthly 
life,  the  continuity  and  depth  of  His  communion  with 
the  Father  were  unbroken  and  the  completeness  of  His 
obedience  undiminished.  He  was  a  Man,  but  He  was 
also  the  Man,  the  one  realised  ideal  of  humanity  that 
has  ever  walked  the  earth,  to  whom  all  others,  even 
the  most  complete,  are  fragments,  the  fairest  foul,  the 
most  gracious  harsh.  In  Him  and  in  Him  only  has 
been  '  given  the  world  assurance  of  a  man.' 

The  other  condition  which  is  here  introduced  is  'born 
under  the  law,'  by  which  it  may  be  noted  that  the 
Apostle  does  not  mean  the  Jewish  law,  inasmuch  as  he 
does  not  use  the  definite  article  with  the  word.  No 
doubt  our  Lord  was  born  as  a  Jew  and  subject  to  the 
Jewish  law,  but  the  thought  here  and  in  the  subsequent 
clause  is  extended  to  the  general  notion  of  law.  The 
very  heart  of  our  Lord's  human  identification  is  that 
He  too  had  duties  imperative  upon  Him,  and  the 
language  of  one  of  the  Messianic  psalms  was  the  voice 
of  His  filial  will  during  all  His  earthly  life;  'Lo!  I 
come,  in  the  volume  of  the  Book  it  is  written  of  Me,  I 
ielight  to  do  Thy  will  and  Thy  law  is  within  My  heart.' 
The  very  secret  of  His  human  life  was  discovered  by 
the  heathen  centurion,  at  whose  faith  He  marvelled, 
who  said,  '  I  also  am  a  man  under  authority ' ;  so  was 
Jesus.  The  Son  had  ever  been  obedient  in  the  sweet 
communion  of  Heaven,  but  the  obedience  of  Jesus  was 
not  less  perfect,  continual  and  unstained.  It  was  the 
man  Jesus  who  summed  up  His  earthly  life  in  *  I  do 
always  the  things  that  please  Him ' ;  it  was  the  man 
Jesus  who,  under  the  olives  in  Gethsemane,  made  the 


132  GALATIANS  [ch.  iv. 

great  surrender  and  yielded  up  His  own  will  to  the 
will  of  the  Father  who  sent  Him. 

He  was  under  law  in  that  the  will  of  God  dominated 
His  life,  but  He  was  not  so  under  it  as  we  are  on  whom 
its  precepts  often  press  as  an  unwelcome  obligation, 
and  who  know  the  weight  of  guilt  and  condemnation. 
If  there  is  any  one  characteristic  of  Jesus  more  con- 
spicuous than  another  it  is  the  absence  in  Him  of  any 
consciousness  of  deficiency  in  His  obedience  to  law,  and 
yet  that  absence  does  not  in  the  smallest  degree  in- 
fringe on  His  claim  to  be  'meek  and  lowly  in  heart.'' 
*  Which  of  you  convinceth  Me  of  sin  ? '  would  have  been 
from  any  other  man  a  defiance  that  would  have  pro- 
voked a  crushing  answer  if  it  had  not  been  taken  as  a 
proof  of  hopeless  ignorance  of  self,  but  when  Christ  asks 
the  question,  the  world  is  silent.  The  silence  has  been 
all  but  unbroken  for  nineteen  hundred  years,  and  of 
all  the  busy  and  often  unfriendly  eyes  that  have  been 
occupied  with  Him  and  the  hostile  pens  that  have  been 
eager  to  say  something  new  about  Him,  none  have 
discovered  a  flaw,  or  dared  to  '  hint  a  fault.'  That 
character  has  stamped  its  own  impression  of  perf ectnesa 
on  all  eyes  even  the  most  unfriendly  or  indifiPerent. 
In  Him  there  is  seen  the  perfect  union  and  balance  of 
opposite  characteristics ;  the  rest  of  us,  at  the  best, 
are  but  broken  arcs  ;  Jesus  is  the  completed  round. 
He  is  under  law  as  fully,  continuously  and  joyfully 
obedient ;  but  for  Him  it  had  no  accusing  voice,  and  it 
laid  on  Him  no  burden  of  broken  commandments.  He 
was  born  of  a  woman,  born  under  law,  but  he  lived 
separate  from  sinners  though  identified  with  them. 

III.  The  marvel  of  exaltation  that  results. 

Our  Lord's  lowliness  is  described  in  the  two  clauses 
which  we  have  just  been  considering.    They  express 


V.5]  THE  SON  SENT  138 

His  identification  with  us  from  a  double  point  of  view, 
and  that  double  point  of  view  is  continued  in  the  final 
clauses  of  our  text  which  state  the  double  purpose  of 
God  in  sending  His  Son.  He  became  one  with  U8  that 
we  might  become  one  with  Him.  The  two  elements  of 
this  double  purpose  are  stated  in  the  reverse  order  to 
the  two  elements  of  Christ's  lowliness.  The  redemp- 
tion of  them  that  were  under  law  is  presented  as  the 
reason  for  His  being  born  under  law,  and  our  reception 
of  the  •  adoption  of  sons '  is  the  purpose  of  the  Son's 
being  sent  and  born  of  a  woman.  The  order  in  which 
Paul  here  deals  with  the  two  parts  of  the  divine 
purpose  is  not  to  be  put  down  to  mere  rhetorical  orna- 
ment, but  corresponds  to  the  order  in  which  these  two 
elements  are  realised  by  men.  For  there  must  be 
redemption  from  law  before  there  is  the  adoption  of 
sons. 

We  have  already  had  occasion  to  point  out  that  *  law* 
here  must  be  taken  in  the  wide  sense  and  not  restricted 
to  the  Jewish  law.  It  is  a  world-wide  redemption 
which  the  Father's  love  had  in  view  in  sending  His 
Son,  but  that  all-comprehending,  fatherly  love  could 
not  reach  its  aim  by  the  mere  forth-putting  of  its  own 
energy.  A  process  was  needed  if  the  divine  heart  was 
to  accomplish  its  desire,  and  the  majestic  stages  in 
that  process  are  set  forth  here  by  Paul.  The  world 
was  under  law  in  a  very  sad  fashion,  and  though  Jesus 
has  come  to  redeem  them  that  are  under  law,  the 
crushing  weight  of  commandments  flouted,  of  duties 
neglected,  of  sins  done,  presses  heavily  upon  many  of 
us.  And  yet  how  many  of  us  there  are  who  do  not 
know  the  burden  that  we  carry  and  have  had  no  per- 
sonal experience  like  that  of  Bunyan's  Christian  with 
the  pack   on  his  back  all  but  weighing  him  down? 


184  GALATIANS  [oh.  iv. 

Jesus  Christ  has  become  one  of  us,  and  in  His  sinless 
life  has  'magnified  the  law  and  made  it  honourable,' 
and  in  His  sinless  death  He  endures  the  consequences 
of  sin,  not  as  due  to  Himself,  but  because  they  are 
man's.  But  we  must  carefully  keep  in  view,  that  as 
we  have  already  pointed  out,  we  are  to  think  of  Christ's 
mission  as  His  coming  as  well  as  the  Father's  sending, 
and  that  therefore  we  do  not  grasp  the  full  idea  of  our 
Lord's  enduring  the  consequences  of  sin  unless  we 
take  it  as  meaning  His  voluntary  identification  of  Him- 
self in  love  with  us  sinful  men.  His  obedience  was 
perfect  all  His  life  long,  and  His  last  and  highest  act 
of  obedience  was  when  He  became  obedient  unto  death, 
even  the  death  of  the  Cross. 

This  is  the  only  means  by  which  the  burden  of  law 
in  any  of  its  forms  can  be  taken  away  from  us.  For  a 
law  which  is  not  loved  will  be  heavy  and  hard  however 
holy  and  just  and  good  it  may  be,  and  a  law  which  we 
have  broken  will  become  sooner  or  later  its  own 
avenger.  Faithful  in  Pilgrim's  Progress  tells  how  '  So 
soon  as  a  man  overtook  me  he  was  but  a  word  and  a 
blow,  for  down  he  knocked  me  and  laid  me  for  dead. 
.  .  .  He  struck  me  another  deadly  blow  on  the  breast 
and  beat  me  down  backward,  so  I  lay  at  his  foot  as 
dead  as  before,  so  when  I  came  to  myself  again  I  cried 
him  "  Mercy,"  but  he  said,  "  I  know  not  how  to  show 
mercy,"  and  with  that  knocked  me  down  again;  he 
had  doubtless  made  an  end  of  me  but  that  one  came 
by  and  bid  him  forbear.  ...  I  did  not  know  him  at 
first,  but  as  he  went  by  I  perceived  the  holes  in  his 
hands  and  in  his  sides.'  He  was  born  under  law  that 
He  might  redeem  them  that  were  under  law. 

The  slaves  bought  into  freedom  are  received  into  the 
great  family.    The  Son  has  become  flesh  that  they  who 


c.  5]  THE  SON  SENT  185 

dwell  in  the  flesh  may  rise  to  be  sons,  but  the  Son 
stands  alone  even  in  the  midst  of  His  identification 
with  us,  and  of  the  great  results  which  follow  for  us 
from  it.  He  is  the  Son  by  nature;  we  are  sons  by 
adoption.  He  became  man  that  we  might  share  in  the 
possession  of  God.  When  the  burden  of  law  is  lifted  off 
it  is  possible  to  bestow  the  further  blessing  of  sonship, 
but  that  blessing  is  only  possible  through  Him  in  whom, 
and  from  whom,  we  derive  a  life  which  is  divine  life. 
There  is  a  profound  truth  in  the  prophetic  sentence, 
'  Behold  I  and  the  children  which  God  hath  given  me  I ' 
for,  in  one  aspect,  believers  are  the  children  of  Christ, 
and  in  another,  they  are  sons  of  God. 

We  have  been  speaking  of  the  Son's  identification 
with  us  in  His  mission,  and  our  identification  with 
Him,  but  that  identification  depends  on  ourselves  and 
is  only  an  accomplished  fact  through  our  faith.  When 
we  trust  in  Him  it  is  true  that  all  His — His  righteous- 
ness, His  Sonship,  His  union  with  the  Father — is  ours, 
and  that  all  ours — our  sins,  our  guilt,  our  alienation 
from  God  and  our  dwelling  in  the  far-off  land  of  rags 
and  vice — is  His.  In  His  voluntary  identification  with 
us,  He  has  borne  our  griefs  and  carried  our  sorrows. 
It  is  for  us  to  determine  whether  we  will  lay  on  Him 
our  iniquities,  as  the  Father  has  already  laid  the 
iniquities  of  us  all.  Are  we  by  faith  in  Him  who  was 
born  of  a  woman,  born  under  law,  making  our  very 
own  the  redemption  from  the  law  which  He  has  wrought 
and  the  adoption  of  sons  which  He  beetows  ? 


WHAT  MAKES  A  CHRISTIAN:  CIRCUMCISION 
OR  FAITH? 

'In  Jesus  Christ  neither  circumcision  availeth  any  thing,  nor  uncircumcision, 
but  faith  which  worketh  by  love.' — Gal.  v.  6. 

It  is  a  very  singular  instance  of  imaginative  misread- 
ing of  plain  facts  that  the  primitive  Church  should  be 
held  up  as  a  pattern  Church.  The  early  communities 
had  apostolic  teaching ;  but  beyond  that,  they  seem  to 
have  been  in  no  respect  above,  and  in  many  respects 
below,  the  level  of  subsequent  ages.  If  we  may  judge 
of  their  morality  by  the  exhortations  and  dehortations 
which  they  received  from  the  Apostle,  Corinth  and 
Thessalonica  were  but  beginners  in  holiness.  If  we 
may  judge  of  their  intelligence  by  the  errors  into  which 
they  were  in  danger  of  falling,  these  first  congregations 
had  indeed  need  that  one  should  teach  them  which 
were  the  first  principles  of  the  oracles  of  God.  It  could 
not  be  otherwise.  They  were  but  just  rescued  from 
heathenism,  and  we  need  not  wonder  if  their  spirits 
long  bore  the  scars  of  their  former  bondage.  If  we 
wish  to  know  what  the  apostolic  churches  were  like, 
we  have  but  to  look  at  the  communities  gathered  by 
modern  missionaries.  The  same  infantile  simplicity, 
the  same  partial  apprehensions  of  the  truth,  the  same 
danger  of  being  led  astray  by  the  low  morality  of  their 
heathen  kindred,  the  same  openness  to  strange  heresy, 
the  same  danger  of  blending  the  old  with  the  new,  in 
opinion  and  in  practice,  beset  both. 

The  history  of  the  first  theological  difference  in  the 
early  churches  is  a  striking  confutation  of  the  dream 
ihat  they  were  perfect,  and  a  striking  illustration  of 

136 


V.6]     WHAT  MAKES  A  CHRISTIAN?     137 

the  dangers  to  which  they  were  exposed  from  the 
attempt,  so  natural  to  us  all,  to  put  new  wine  into  old 
bottles.  The  Jewish  and  the  Gentile  elements  did  not 
coalesce.  The  point  round  which  the  strife  was  waged 
was  not  whether  Gentiles  might  come  into  the  Church. 
That  was  conceded  by  the  fiercest  Judaisers.  But  it 
was  w^hether  they  could  come  in  as  Gentiles,  without 
first  being  incorporated  into  the  Jewish  nation  by 
circumcision,  and  whether  they  could  remain  in  as 
Gentiles,  without  conforming  to  Jewish  ceremonial 
and  law. 

Those  who  said  •  No '  were  members  of  the  Christian 
communities,  and,  being  so,  they  still  insisted  that 
Judaism  was  to  be  eternal.  They  demanded  that  the 
patched  and  stiff  leathern  bottle,  which  had  no  elasticity 
or  pliability,  should  still  contain  the  quick  fermenting 
new  wine  of  the  kingdom.  And  certainly,  if  ever  man 
had  excuse  for  clinging  to  what  was  old  and  formal, 
these  Judaising  Christians  held  it.  They  held  by  a  law 
written  with  God's  own  finger,  by  ordinances  awful 
by  reason  of  divine  appointment,  venerable  by  reason 
of  the  generations  to  which  they  had  been  of  absolute 
authority,  commended  by  the  very  example  of  Christ 
Himself.  Every  motive  which  can  bind  heart  and 
conscience  to  the  reverence  and  the  practice  of  the 
traditions  of  the  Fathers,  bound  them  to  the  Law  and 
the  ordinances  which  had  been  Israel's  treasure  from 
Abraham  to  Jesus. 

Those  who  said  '  Yes '  were  mostly  Gentiles,  headed 
and  inspired  by  a  Hebrew  of  the  Hebrews.  They 
believed  that  Judaism  was  preparatory,  and  that  its 
work  was  done.  For  those  among  themselves  who 
were  Jews,  they  were  willing  that  its  laws  should  still 
be  obligatory ;  but  they  fought  against  the  attempt  to 


188  GALATIANS  [ch.  v. 

compel  all  Gentile  converts  to  enter  Christ's  kingdom 
through  the  gate  of  circumcision. 

The  fight  was  stubborn  and  bitter.  I  suppose  it  is 
harder  to  abolish  forms  than  to  change  opinions. 
Ceremonies  stand  long  after  the  thought  which  they 
express  has  fled,  as  a  dead  king  may  sit  on  his  throne 
stiff  and  stark  in  his  golden  mantle,  and  no  one  come 
near  enough  to  see  that  the  light  is  gone  out  of  his 
eyes,  and  the  will  departed  from  the  hand  that  still 
clutches  the  sceptre.  All  through  Paul's  life  he  was 
dogged  and  tormented  by  this  controversy.  There  was 
a  deep  gulf  between  the  churches  he  planted  and  this 
reactionary  section  of  the  Christian  community.  Its 
emissaries  were  continually  following  in  his  footsteps. 
As  he  bitterly  reproaches  them,  they  entered  upon 
another  man's  line  of  things  made  ready  to  their  hand, 
not  caring  to  plant  churches  of  circumcised  Gentiles 
themselves,  but  starting  up  behind  him  as  soon  as  his 
back  was  turned,  and  spoiling  his  work. 

This  Epistle  is  the  memorial  of  that  foot-to-foot  feud. 
It  is  of  perennial  use,  as  the  tendencies  against  which 
it  is  directed  are  constant  in  human  nature.  Men  are 
ever  apt  to  confound  form  and  substance,  to  crave 
material  embodiments  of  spiritual  realities,  to  elevate 
outward  means  into  the  place  of  the  inward  and  real, 
to  which  all  the  outward  is  but  subsidiary.  In  every 
period  of  strife  between  the  two  great  opponents,  this 
letter  has  been  the  stronghold  of  those  who  fight  for 
the  spiritual  conception  of  religion.  With  it  Luther 
waged  his  warfare,  and  in  this  day,  too,  its  words  are 
precious. 

My  text  contains  Paul's  condensed  statement  of 
his  whole  position  in  the  controversy.  It  tells  us 
what  he  fought  for,  and  why  he  fought,  against  the 


r.6]     WHAT  MAKES  A  CHRISTIAN?     189 

attempt  to  suspend  union  to  Christ  on  an  outward 
rite. 

I.  The  first  grand  principle  contained  in  these  words 
is  that  faith  working  by  love  makes  a  Christian. 

The  antithesis  of  our  text  appears  in  somewhat  varied 
forms  in  two  other  places  in  the  Apostle's  writings.  To 
the  Corinthians  he  says,  *  Circumcision  is  nothing,  and 
uncircumcision  is  nothing,  but  the  keeping  of  the  com- 
mandments of  God.  His  last  word  to  the  Galatians — 
the  gathering  up  into  one  strong  sentence  of  his 
whole  letter — is,  *  In  Christ  Jesus,  neither  circumcision 
availeth  anything,  nor  uncircumcision,  but  a  new 
creature.' 

Now,  all  these  assertions  embody  substantially  the 
same  opposition  between  the  conception  of  Christianity 
as  depending  upon  a  ceremonial  rite,  and  as  being  a 
spiritual  change.  And  the  variations  in  the  second 
member  of  the  contrast  throw  light  on  each  other.  In 
one,  the  essential  thing  is  regarded  from  the  divine 
side  as  being  not  a  rite  performed  on  the  body,  but  a 
new  nature,  the  result  of  a  supernatural  regeneration. 
In  another,  the  essential  thing  is  set  forth  as  being  not 
an  outward  act,  but  an  inward  principle,  which  pro- 
duces appropriate  effects  on  the  whole  being.  In  yet 
another  the  essential  thing  is  conceived  as  being  not  a 
mere  ceremonial,  but  practical  obedience,  the  conse- 
quence of  the  active  principle  of  faith,  and  the  sign  of 
the  new  life.  There  is  an  evident  sequence  in  the  three 
sayings.  They  begin  with  the  deepest,  the  divine  act 
of  a  new  creation — and  end  with  the  outermost,  the 
last  result  and  object  of  both  the  others — deeds  of 
conformity  to  God's  law. 

This  one  process  in  its  triple  aspects,  says  Paul,  con- 
stitutes a  man  a  Christian.    What  correspondence  is 


140  GALATIANS  Lch.  v. 

there  between  it,  in  any  of  its  parts,  and  a  carnal 
ordinance  ?  They  belong  to  wholly  different  categories, 
and  it  is  the  most  preposterous  confusion  to  try  to  mix 
them  up  together.  Are  we  to  tack  on  to  the  solemn 
powers  and  qualities,  which  unite  the  soul  to  Christ, 
this  beggarly  addition  that  the  Judaisers  desire,  and  to 
say,  the  essentials  of  Christianity  are  a  new  creature, 
faith,  obedience — and  circumcision?  That  is,  indeed, 
sewing  old  cloth  on  a  new  garment,  and  huddling 
together  in  grotesque  chaos  things  which  are  utterly 
diverse.  It  is  as  absurd  bathos  as  to  say  the  essentials 
of  a  judge  are  integrity,  learning,  patience — and  an 
ermine  robe ! 

There  would  be  less  danger  of  being  entangled  in 
false  notions  of  the  sort  which  devastated  Galatia  and 
have  afflicted  the  Church  ever  since,  if  people  would 
put  a  little  more  distinctly  before  their  own  minds 
what  they  mean  by  '  religion ' ;  what  sort  of  man  they 
intend  when  they  talk  about  *a  Christian.'  A  clear 
notion  of  the  thing  to  be  produced  would  thin  away  a 
wonderful  deal  of  mist  as  to  the  way  of  producing  it. 
So  then,  beginning  at  the  surface,  in  order  to  work 
inward,  my  first  remark  is  that  religion  is  the  harmony 
of  the  soul  with  God,  and  the  conformity  of  the  life  to 
His  law. 

The  loftiest  purpose  of  God,  in  all  His  dealings,  is  to 
make  us  like  Himself ;  and  the  end  of  all  religion  is  the 
complete  accomplishment  of  that  purpose.  There  is 
no  religion  without  these  elements — consciousness  of 
kindred  with  God,  recognition  of  Him  as  the  sum  of 
all  excellence  and  beauty,  and  of  His  will  as  uncondi- 
tionally binding  upon  us,  aspiration  and  effort  after  a 
full  accord  of  heart  and  soul  with  Him  and  with  His 
law.  and  humble  confidence  that  that  sovereign  beauty 


f.  6]     WHAT  MAKES  A  CHRISTIAN?     141 

will  be  ours.  *  Be  ye  imitators  of  God  as  dear  children ' 
is  the  pure  and  comprehensive  dictate  which  expresses 
the  aim  of  all  devout  men.  *To  keep  His  command- 
ments' goes  deeper  than  the  mere  external  deeds 
Were  it  not  so,  Paul's  grand  words  would  shrink  to  a 
very  poor  conception  of  religion,  which  would  then 
have  its  shrine  and  sphere  removed  from  the  sacred 
recesses  of  the  inmost  spirit  to  the  dusty  Babel  of  the 
market-place  and  the  streets.  But  with  that  due  and 
necessary  extension  of  the  words  which  results  from 
the  very  nature  of  the  case,  that  obedience  must  be 
the  obedience  of  a  man,  and  not  of  his  deeds  only, 
and  must  include  the  submission  of  the  will  and  the 
prostration  of  the  whole  nature  before  Him ;  they  teach 
a  truth  which,  fully  received  and  carried  out,  clears 
away  whole  mountains  of  theoretical  confusion  and 
practical  error.  Religion  is  no  dry  morality ;  no  slavish, 
punctilious  conforming  of  actions  to  a  hard  law.  Re- 
ligion is  not  right  thinking  alone,  nor  right  emotion 
alone,  nor  right  action  alone.  Religion  is  still  less  the 
semblance  of  these  in  formal  profession,  or  simulated 
feeling,  or  apparent  rectitude.  Religion  is  not  nominal 
connection  with  the  Christian  community,  nor  partici- 
pation in  its  ordinances  and  its  worship.  But  to  be 
godly  is  to  be  godlike.  The  full  accord  of  all  the  soul 
with  His  character,  in  whom,  as  their  native  home, 
dwell  •  whatsoever  things  are  pure,  whatsoever  things 
are  lovely,'  and  the  full  glad  conformity  of  the  will  to 
His  sovereign  will,  who  is  the  life  of  our  lives — this, 
and  nothing  shallower,  nothing  narrower,  is  religion 
in  its  perfection ;  and  the  measure  in  which  we  have 
attained  to  this  harmony  with  God,  is  the  measure  in 
which  we  are  Christians.  As  two  stringed  instruments 
may  be  so  tuned  to  one  keynote  that,  if  you  strike  the 


142  GALATIANS  [ch.  v. 

one,  a  faint  ethereal  echo  is  heard  from  the  other, 
which  blends  undistinguishably  with  its  parent  sound ; 
so,  drawing  near  to  God,  and  brought  into  unison  with 
His  mind  and  will,  our  responsive  spirits  vibrate  in 
accord  with  His,  and  give  forth  tones,  low  and  thin 
indeed,  but  still  repeating  the  mighty  music  of  heaven. 
*  Circumcision  is  nothing,  and  uncircumcision  is  nothing, 
but  the  keeping  of  the  commandments  of  God.' 

But  our  text  tells  us,  further,  that  if  we  look  back- 
wards from  character  and  deed  to  motive,  this  harmony 
with  God  results  from  love  becoming  the  ruling  power  of 
our  lives.  The  imitation  of  the  object  of  worship  has 
always  been  felt  to  be  the  highest  form  of  worship. 
Many  an  ancient  teacher,  besides  the  Stoic  philosopher, 
has  said,  '  He  who  copies  the  gods  worships  them 
adequately.'  One  of  the  prophets  lays  it  down  as  a 
standing  rule,  *  The  people  will  walk  every  one  in  the 
name  of  his  God.'  But  it  is  only  in  the  Christian  atti- 
tude towards  God  that  the  motive  power  is  found  which 
makes  such  imitation  more  than  an  impossible  duty, 
even  as  it  is  only  in  the  revealed  character  of  God  that 
a  pattern  is  found,  to  imitate  which  is  to  be  perfect. 
Everywhere  besides,  harmony  with  the  gods  meant 
discord  with  conscience  and  flagrant  outrages  of  the 
commonest  moralities.  Everywhere  else,  the  task  of 
copying  them  was  one  lightened  by  no  clear  confidence 
in  their  love,  and  by  no  happy  consciousness  of  our 
own.  But  for  us,  the  love  revealed  is  the  perfect  law, 
and  the  love  evoked  is  the  fulfilling  of  the  law. 

And  this  is  the  might  and  nobleness  of  the  Christian 
love  to  God ;  that  it  is  no  idle  emotion  or  lazy  rapture, 
no  vague  sentiment,  but  the  root  of  all  practical  good- 
ness, of  all  strenuous  effort,  of  all  virtue,  and  of  all 
praise.    That  strong  tide  is  meant  to  drive  the  busy 


T.6]     WHAT  MAKES  A  CHRISTIAN?     143 

wheels  of  life  and  to  bear  precious  freightage  on  its 
bosom;  not  to  flow  away  in  profitless  foam.  Love  is 
the  fruitful  mother  of  bright  children,  as  our  great 
moralist-poet  learned  when  he  painted  her  in  the 
House  of  Holiness : 

'  A  multitude  of  babes  about  her  hung. 
Playing  their  sport  that  joyed  her  to  behold.' 

Her  sons  are  Strength  and  Justice,  and  Self-control  and 
Firmness,  and  Courfge  and  Patience,  and  many  more 
besides ;  and  her  daughters  are  Pity  with  her  sad  eyes, 
and  Gentleness  with  her  silvery  voice,  and  Mercy  whose 
sweet  face  makes  sunshine  in  the  shade  of  death,  and 
Humility  all  unconscious  of  her  loveliness ;  and  linked 
hand  in  hand  with  these,  all  the  radiant  band  of  sisters 
that  men  call  Virtues  and  Graces.  These  will  dwell  in 
our  hearts,  if  Love  their  mighty  mother  be  there.  If 
we  are  without  her,  we  shall  be  without  them. 

There  is  discord  between  man  and  God  which  can 
only  be  removed  by  the  sweet  commerce  of  love,  estab- 
lished between  earth  and  heaven.  God's  love  has  come 
to  us.  When  ours  springs  responsive  to  Him,  then  the 
schism  is  ended,  and  the  wandering  child  forgets  his 
rebellion,  as  he  lays  his  aching  head  on  the  father's 
bosom,  and  feels  the  beating  of  the  father's  heart.  Our 
souls  by  reason  of  sin  are  'like  sweet  bells  jangled, 
out  of  tune  and  harsh.'  Love's  master  hand  laid  upon 
them  restores  to  them  their  part  in  'the  fair  music 
that  all  creatures  make  to  their  great  Lord,'  and  brings 
us  into  such  accord  with  God  that 

'  We  on  earth  with  undiscording  voice 
May  rightly  answer ' 

even  the  awful  harmonies  of  His  lips.    The  essential  of 


144  GALATIANS  [ch.  v. 

religion  is  concord  with  God,  and  the  power  which 
makes  that  concord  is  love  to  God. 

But  this  text  leads  to  a  still  further  consideration, 
namely,  the  dominion  of  love  to  God  in  our  hearts  arises 
from  faith. 

We  thus  reach  the  last  link,  or  rather  the  staple,  of 
the  chain  from  which  all  hangs.  Religion  is  harmony 
with  God ;  that  harmony  is  produced  by  love  ;  and  that 
love  is  produced  by  faith.  Therefore  the  fundamental 
of  all  Christianity  in  the  soul  is  faith.  Would  this 
sound  any  fresher  and  more  obvious  if  we  varied  the 
language,  and  said  that  to  be  religious  we  must  be  like 
God,  that  to  be  like  Him  we  must  love  Him,  and  that 
to  love  Him  we  must  be  sure  that  He  loves  us  ?  Surely 
that  is  too  plain  to  need  enlarging  on. 

And  is  it  not  true  that  faith  must  precede  our  love 
to  God,  and  affords  the  only  possible  basis  on  which 
that  can  be  built?  How  can  we  love  Him  so  long  as 
we  are  in  doubt  of  His  heart,  or  misconceive  His 
character,  as  if  it  were  only  power  and  wisdom,  or 
awful  severity  ?  Men  cannot  love  an  unseen  person  at 
all,  without  some  very  special  token  of  his  personal 
affection  for  them.  The  history  of  all  religions  shows 
that  where  the  gods  have  been  thought  of  as  unloving, 
the  worshippers  have  been  heartless  too.  It  is  only 
when  we  know  and  believe  the  love  that  God  hath  to 
us,  that  we  come  to  cherish  any  corresponding  emotion 
to  Him.  Our  love  is  secondary.  His  is  primary;  ours 
is  reflection,  His  the  original  beam ;  ours  is  echo,  His 
the  mother-tone.  Heaven  must  bend  to  earth  before 
earth  can  rise  to  heaven.  The  skies  must  open  and 
drop  down  love,  ere  love  can  spring  in  the  fruitful 
fields.  And  it  is  only  when  we  look  with  true  trust  to 
that  great  unveiling  of  the  heart  of  God  which  is  in 


V.6]     WHAT  MAKES  A  CHRISTIAN?     145 

Jesus  Christ,  only  when  we  can  say,  'Herein  is  love — 
that  He  gave  His  Son  to  be  the  propitiation  for  our 
Bins,'  that  our  hearts  are  melted,  and  all  their  snows 
are  dissolved  into  sweet  waters,  which,  freed  from 
their  icy  chains,  can  flow  with  music  in  their  ripple 
and  fruitfulness  along  their  course,  through  our  other- 
wise silent  and  barren  lives.  Faith  in  Christ  is  tho 
only  possible  basis  for  active  love  to  God. 

And  this  thought  presents  the  point  of  contact  be- 
tween the  teaching  of  Paul  and  John.  The  one  dwells 
on  faith,  the  other  on  love,  but  he  who  insists  most  on 
the  former  declares  that  it  produces  its  effects  on 
character  by  the  latter;  and  he  who  insists  most  on 
the  latter  is  forward  to  proclaim  that  it  owes  its  very 
existence  to  the  former. 

It  presents  also  the  point  of  contact  between  Paul 
and  James.  The  one  speaks  of  the  essential  of 
Christianity  as  faith,  the  other  as  works.  They  are 
only  striking  the  stream  at  different  points,  one  at  the 
fountain-head,  one  far  down  its  course  among  the 
haunts  of  men.  They  both  preach  that  faith  must  be 
'faith  that  workoth,' not  a  barren  assent  to  a  dogma, 
but  a  living  trust  that  brings  forth  fruits  in  the  life. 
Paul  believes  as  much  as  James  that  faith  without 
works  is  dead,  and  demands  tho  keeping  of  the  com- 
mandments as  indispensable  to  all  true  Christianity. 
James  believes  as  much  as  Paul  that  works  without 
faith  are  of  none  effect.  So  all  three  of  these  great 
teachers  of  the  Church  are  represented  in  this  text,  to 
which  each  of  them  might  seem  to  have  contributed  a 
word  embodying  his  characteristic  type  of  doctrine. 
The  threefold  rays  into  which  the  prism  parts  the 
white  light  blend  again  here,  where  faith,  love,  and 
work  are  all  united  in  the  comprehensive  saying,  'In 

K 


146  GALATI ANS  [ch.  v. 

Jesus  Christ  neither  circumcision  availeth  anything, 
nor  uncircumcision,  but  faith  which  worketh  by  love.' 

The  sum  of  the  whole  mattei*  is  this— He  who  is  one 
in  will  and  heart  with  God  is  a  Christian.  He  who 
loves  God  is  one  in  will  and  heart  with  Him.  He  who 
trusts  Christ  loves  God.  That  is  Christianity  in  its 
ultimate  purpose  and  result.  That  is  Christianity  in 
its  means  and  working  forces.  That  is  Christianity  in 
its  starting-point  and  foundation. 

II.  But  we  have  to  consider  also  the  negative  side  of 
the  Apostle's  words.  They  affirm  that  in  comparison 
with  the  essential — faith,  all  externals  are  infinitely 
unimportant. 

Paul's  habit  was  always  to  settle  questions  by  the 
widest  principles  he  could  bring  to  bear  upon  them— 
which  one  may  notice  in  passing  is  the  very  opposite 
to  the  method  that  has  been  in  favour  with  many 
Church  teachers  and  guides  since,  who  have  preferred 
to  live  from  hand  to  mouth,  and  to  dispose  of  difficulties 
by  the  narrowest  considerations  that  would  avail  to 
quiet  them.  In  our  text  the  question  in  hand  is  settled 
on  a  ground  which  covers  a  great  deal  more  than  the 
existing  dispute.  Circumcision  is  regarded  as  one  of 
a  whole  class — namely,  the  class  of  outward  rites  and 
observances;  and  the  contrast  drawn  between  it  and 
faith  extends  to  all  the  class  to  which  it  belongs.  It  is 
not  said  to  be  powerless  because  it  is  an  Old  Testament 
rite,  but  because  it  is  a  rite.  Its  impotence  lies  in  the 
very  nature  which  it  has  in  common  with  all  external 
institutions,  whether  they  be  of  the  Old  Testament  or 
of  the  New,  whether  they  be  enjoined  of  God  or  in- 
vented by  men.  To  them  all  the  same  characteristic 
cleaves.  Compared  with  faith  they  are  of  no  avail. 
Not  that  they  are  absolutely  useless.    They  have  their 


^6]     WHAT  MAKES  A  CHRISTIAN?     147 

place,  but  *in  ChHst  Jesus'  they  are  nothing.  Union 
to  Him  depends  on  quite  another  order  of  facts,  which 
may  or  may  not  exist  along  with  circumcision,  or  with 
baptism,  or  with  the  Lord's  Supper.  However  impor- 
tant these  may  be,  they  have  no  place  among  the 
things  which  bind  a  soul  to  its  Saviour.  They  may  be 
helps  to  these  things,  but  nothing  more.  Tlie  rite  does 
not  ensure  the  faith,  else  the  antithesis  of  our  text 
were  unmeaning.  The  rite  does  not  stand  in  the  place 
of  faith,  or  the  contrast  implied  were  absurd.  But  the 
two  belong  to  totally  different  orders  of  things,  which 
may  co-exist  indeed,  but  may  also  be  found  separately ; 
the  one  is  the  indispensable  spiritual  experience  which 
makes  us  Christians,  the  other  belongs  to  a  class  of 
material  institutions  which  are  much  as  helps  to,  but 
nothing  as  substitutes  or  equivalents  foi%  faith. 

Keep  firm  hold  of  the  positive  principle  with  which 
we  have  been  dealing  in  the  former  part  of  this  sermon, 
and  all  forms  and  externals  fall  as  a  matter  of  course 
into  their  proper  place.  If  religion  be  the  loving 
devotion  of  the  soul  to  God,  resting  upon  reasonable 
faith,  then  all  besides  isj  at  the  most,  a  means  which 
may  further  it.  If  loving  trust  which  apprehends  the 
truth,  and  cleaves  to  the  Person,  revealed  to  us  in  the 
Gospel,  be  the  link  which  binds  men  to  God,  then  the 
only  way  by  which  these  externals  can  be  'means  of 
grace'  is  by  their  aiding  us  to  understand  better  and 
to  feel  more  the  truth  as  it  is  in  Jesus,  and  to  cleave 
closer  to  Him  who  is  the  truth.  Do  they  enlighten 
the  understanding  ?  Do  they  engrave  deeper  the  loved 
face  carven  on  the  tablets  of  memory,  which  the 
attrition  of  worldly  cares  is  ever  obliterating,  and  the 
lichens  of  worldly  thoughts  over  filling  up?  Do  they 
clear  out  the  rubbish  from  the  channels  of  the  heart, 


148  GALATIANS  [oh.  v. 

that  the  cleansing  stream  may  flow  through  them? 
Do  they,  through  the  senses,  minister  to  the  soul  its 
own  proper  food  of  clear  thought,  vivid  impressions, 
loving  affections,  trustful  obedience?  Do  they  bring 
Christ  to  us,  and  us  to  Him,  in  the  only  way  in  which 
approach  is  possible — through  the  occupation  of  mind 
and  heart  and  will  with  His  great  perfectness?  Then 
they  are  means  of  grace,  precious  and  helpful,  the  gifts 
of  His  love,  the  tokens  of  His  wise  knowledge  of  our 
weakness,  the  signs  of  His  condescension,  in  that  He 
stoops  to  trust  some  portion  of  our  remembrance  of 
Him  to  the  ministry  of  sense.  But  in  comparison  with 
that  faith  which  they  cannot  plant,  though  they  may 
strengthen  it,  they  are  nothing ;  and  in  the  matter  of 
uniting  the  soul  to-  God  and  making  men  *  religious,' 
they  are  of  no  avail  at  all. 

And  such  thoughts  as  these  have  a, very  wide  sweep, 
as  well  as  a  very  deep  influence.  Religion  is  the 
devotion  of  the  soul  to  God.  Then  everything  besides 
is  not  religion,  but  at  most  a  means  to  it.  That  is  true 
about  all  Christian  ordinances.  Baptism  is  spoken 
about  by  Paul  in  terms  which  plainly  show  that  he 
regarded  it  as  *  nothing '  in  the  same  sense,  and  under 
the  same  limitations,  as  he  thought  that  circumcision 
was  nothing.  *!  baptized  some  of  you,'  says  he  to 
the  Corinthians;  *!  scarcely  remember  whom,  or  how 
many.  I  have  far  more  important  work  to  do — to 
preach  the  Gospel.'  It  is  true  about  all  acts  and  forms 
of  Christian  worship.  These  are  not  religion,  but 
means  to  it.  Their  only  value  and  their  only  test  is — 
Do  they  help  men  to  know  and  feel  Christ  and  His 
truth?  It  is  true  about  laws  of  life,  and  many  points 
of  conventional  morality.  Remember  the  grand  free- 
dom with  which  the  same  Apostle  dealt  with  questions 


V.6J     WHAT  MAKES  A  CHRISTIAN?     149 

about  meats  offered  to  idols,  and  the  observance  of 
days  and  seasons.  The  same  principle  guided  him 
there  too,  and  he  relegated  the  whole  question  back  to 
its  proper  place  with,  'Meat  commendeth  us  not  to 
God ;  for  neither  if  we  eat  are  we  the  better,  neither 
if  we  oat  not  are  we  the  worse.'  '  He  that  rcgardeth 
the  day,  regardeth  it  unto  the  Lord ;  and  ho  that  re- 
gardeth  not  the  day,  to  the  Lord  he  doth  not  regard 
it.'  It  is  true,  though  less  obviously  and  simply,  about 
subordinate  doctrines.  It  is  true  about  the  mere 
intellectual  grasp  of  the  fundamental  truths  of  God's 
revelation.  These,  and  the  belief  of  these,  are  not 
Christianity,  they  are  helps  towards  it. 

The  separation  is  broad  and  deep.  On  one  side  are 
all  externals,  rites,  ceremonies,  politics.  Church  arrange- 
ments, forms  of  worship,  modes  of  life,  practices  of 
morality,  doctrines,  and  creeds— all  w^hich  are  externals 
to  the  soul :  on  the  other  is  faith  working  through  love, 
the  inmost  attitude  and  deepest  emotion  of  the  soul. 
The  great  heap  is  fuel.  The  flame  is  loving  faith.  The 
only  worth  of  the  fuel  is  to  feed  the  flame.  Otherwise 
it  is  of  no  avail,  but  lies  dead  and  cold,  a  mass  of 
blackness.  We  are  joined  to  God  by  faith.  Whatever 
strengthens  that  faith  is  precious  as  a  help,  but  is 
worthless  as  a  substitute. 

III.  There  is  a  constant  tendency  to  exalt  these 
unimportant  externals  into  the  place  of  faith. 

The  whole  purpose  of  the  Gospel  may  be  described 
to  be  our  deliverance  from  the  dominion  of  sense,  and 
the  transference  of  the  centre  of  our  life  to  the  unseen 
world.  This  end  is  no  doubt  partly  accomplished  by 
the  help  of  sense.  So  long  as  men  have  bodily  organi- 
sations, there  will  be  need  for  outward  helps.  Men's 
indolence,  and  men's  sense-ridden  n3,tures,  will  take 


150  GALAtlANS  [ch.  v. 

symbols  for  roallties,  bank-notes  for  wealth.  The  eye 
will  be  terp|)ted  to  stay  on  the  rich  colours  of  the  glowing 
glass,  instead  of  passing  through  them  to  heaven's  light 
beyond*  To  make  the  senses  a  ladder  for  the  soul  to 
climb  to  heaven  by,  will  be  perilously  likely  to  end  in 
the  soul-going. down  the  ladder  instead  of  up.  Forma 
are  sure  to  encroach,  to  overlay  the  truth  that  lies  at 
their  root,  to  become  dimly  intelligible,  or  quite  ua- 
meaning,  and  to  constitute  at  last  the  end  instead  of  the 
means.  Is  it  not  then  wise  to  minimise  these  potent 
and  dangerous  allies?  Is  it  not  needful  to  use  them 
with  the  remembrance  that  a  minute  quantity  may 
strengthen,  but  an  overdose  will  kill — ay,  and  that  the 
minute  quantity  may  kill  too  ?  Christ  instituted  two 
outward  rites.  There  could  not  have  been  fewer  if 
there  was  to  be  an  outward  community  at  all,  and  they 
could  not  have  been  simpler ;  but  look  at  the  porten- 
tous outgrowth  of  superstition,  and  the  unnumbered 
evils,  religious,  moral,  social,  and  even  political,  which 
have  come  from  the  invincible  tendency  of  human 
nature  to  corrupt  forms,  even  when  the  forms  are  the 
sweet  and  simple  ones  of  Christ's  own  appointment. 
What  a  lesson  the  history  of  the  Lord's  Supper,  and  its 
gradual  change  from  the  domestic  memorial  of  the 
dying  love  of  our  Lord  to  the  'tremendous  sacrifice/ 
reads  us  as  to  the  dangerous  ally  which  spiritual  re- 
ligion— and  there  is  no  other  religion  than  spiritual — 
enlists  when  it  seeks  the  help  of  external  rites ! 

But  remember  that  this  danger  of  converting  religion 
into  outward  actions  has  its  root  in  us  all,  and  is  not 
annihilated  by  our  rejection  of  an  elaborate  ceremonial 
There  is  much  significance  in  the  double  negation  of 
my  text, '  Neither  circumcision  nor  uncircumcision.'  If 
the  Judaisers  were  tempted  to  insist  on  the  formo^ 


T.6]     WHAT  MAKES  A  CHRISTIAN?     151 

as  indispensable,  their  antagonists  were  as  much 
tempted  to  insist  on  the  latter.  The  one  were  saying, 
'A  man  cannot  be  a  Christian  unless  he  be  circumcised.' 
The  other  would  be  in  danger  of  replying,  '  He  cannot 
be  a  Christian  if  he  is.'  There  may  be  as  much 
formalism  in  protesting  against  forms  as  in  using 
them.  Extremes  meet;  and  an  unspiritual  Quaker, 
for  instance,  is  at  bottom  of  the  same  way  of  thinking 
as  an  unspiritual  Roman  Catholic.  They  agree  in  their 
belief  that  certain  outward  acts  are  essential  to  wor- 
ship, and  even  to  religion.  They  only  differ  as  to  what 
these  acts  are.  The  Judaiser  who  says, '  You  must  be 
circumcised,'  and  his  antagonist  who  says,  'You  must 
be  uncircumcised,'  are  really  in  the  same  boat. 

And  this  is  especially  needful  to  be  kept  in  mind  by 
those  who,  like  the  most  of  us,  hold  fast  by  the  free 
and  spiritual  conception  of  Christianity.  That  freedom 
we  may  turn  into  a  bondage,  and  that  spirituality  into 
a  form,  if  we  confound  it  with  the  essentials  of  Chris- 
tianity, and  deny  the  possibility  of  the  life  being 
developed  except  in  conjunction  with  it.  My  text  has 
a  double  edge.  Let  us  use  it  against  all  this  Judaising 
which  is  going  on  round  about  us,  and  against  all  the 
tendency  to  it  in  our  own  hearts.  The  one  edge  smites 
the  former,  the  other  edge  the  latter.  Circumcision  is 
nothing,  as  most  of  us  are  forward  to  proclaim.  But, 
also,  remember,  when  we  are  tempted  to  trust  in  our 
freedom,  and  to  fancy  that  in  itself  it  is  good,  uncir- 
cumcision  is  nothing.  You  are  no  more  a  Christian  for 
your  rejection  of  forms  than  another  man  is  for  his 
holding  them.  Your  negation  no  more  unites  you  to 
Christ  than  does  his  affirmation.  One  thing  alone  does 
that, — faith  which  worketh  by  love,  against  which  sense 
ever  wars,  both  by  tempting  some  of  us  to  place  religion 


152  GALATIANS  [oh.  v. 

in  outward  acts  and  c'Sremoniea,  and  by  tempting 
others  of  us  to  place  it  in  rejecting  the  forms  which 
our  brethren  abuse. 

IV.  When  an  indifferent  thing  is  made  into  an 
essential,  it  ceases  to  be  indifferent,  and  must  be  fought 
against. 

Paul  proclaimed  that  circumcision  and  uncircum- 
cision  were  alike  unavailing.  A  man  might  be  a  good 
Christian  either  way.  They  were  not  unimportant  in 
all  respects,  but  in  regard  to  being  united  to  Christ,  it 
did  not  matter  which  side  one  took.  And,  in  accord- 
ance with  this  noble  freedom,  he  for  himself  practised 
Jewish  rites ;  and,  when  he  thought  it  might  conciliate 
prejudice  without  betraying  principle,  had  Timothy 
circumcised.  But  when  it  came  to  be  maintained  as  a 
principle  that  Gentiles  must  be  circumcised,  the  tiriie 
for  conciliation  was  past.  The  other  side  had  made 
further  concession  impossible.  The  Apostle  had  no 
objection  to  circumcision.  What  he  objected  to  was 
its  t)eing  forced  upon  all  as  a  necessary  preliminary  to 
entering  the  Church.  And  as  soon  as  the  opposite 
party  took  that  ground,  then  there  was  nothing  for  it 
but  to  fight  against  them  to  the  last.  They  had  turned 
an  indifferent  thing  into  an  essential,  and  he  could  no 
longer  treat  it  as  indifferent. 

So  whenever  parties  or  Churches  insist  on  external 
rites  as  essential,  or  elevate  any  of  the  subordinate 
means  of  grace  into  the  place  of  the  orr«  bond  which 
fastens  our  souls  to  Jesus,  and  is  the  channel  of  grace 
as  well  as  the  bond  of  union,  then  it  is  time  to  arm  for 
the  defence  of  the  spirituality  of  Christ's  kingdom,  and 
to  resist  the  attempt  to  bind  on  free  shoulders  the 
iron  yoke.  Let  men  and  parties  do  as  they  like,  so 
long  as  they  do  not  turn  their  forms  into  essentials. 


v.t]  « WALK  IN  THE  SPIRIT*  153 

In  broad  freedom  of  speech  and  spirit,  which  holds  by 
the  one  central  principle  too  firmly  to  be  much  troubled 
about  subordinate  matters — in  tolerance  of  diversities, 
which  does  not  spring  from  indifference,  but  from  the 
very  clearness  of  our  perception  of,  and  from  the  very 
fervour  of  our  adherence  to,  the  one  essential  of  tho 
Christian  life— let  us  take  for  our  guide  the  large, 
calm,  lofty  thoughts  which  this  text  sets  forth  before 
us.  Let  us  thankfully  believe  that  men  may  love 
Jesus,  and  be  fed  from  His  fulness,  whether  they  be  on 
one  side  of  this  undying  controversy  or  on  the  other. 
Let  us  watch  jealously  the  tendencies  in  our  own  hearts 
to  trust  in  our  torms  or  in  our  freedom.  And  when- 
soever or  wheresoever  these  subordinates  are  made 
into  things  essential,  and  the  ordinances  of  Christ's 
Church  are  elevated  into  the  place  which  belongs  to 
loving  trust  in  Christ's  love,  then  let  our  voices  at  least 
be  heard  on  the  side  of  that  mighty  truth  that  'in 
Jesus  Christ  neither  circumcision  availeth  anything, 
nor  uncircumcision,  but  faith  which  worketh  by  love.* 


•WALK  IN  THE  SPIRIT' 

•Walk  in  the  Spirifc,  and  ye  ehall  not  fulfil  the  lust  of  the  flesh.*— Gal.  v.  16. 

We  are  not  to  suppose  that  the  Apostle  here  uses  the 
familiar  contrast  of  spirit  and  flesh  to  express  simply 
different  elements  of  human  nature.  Without  enter- 
ing here  on  questions  for  which  a  sermon  is  scarcely  a 
suitable  vehicle  of  discussion,  it  may  be  sufficient  for 
our  present  purpose  to  say  that,  as  usually,  when 
employing  this  antithesis  the  Apostle  means  by  Spirit 
the  divine,  the  Spirit  of  God,  which  he  triumphed  in 
proclaiming  to  be  the  gift  of  every  believing  soul.    The 


154  GALATIANS  [oh.  v. 

other  member  of  the  contrast,  *  flesh/  is  similarly  not 
to  be  taken  as  equivalent  to  body,  but  rather  aa  mean- 
ing the  whole  human  nature  considered  as  apart 
from  God  and  kindred  with  earth  and  earthly  things. 
The  flesb,  in  its  narrower  sense,  is  no  doubt  a  pre- 
dominant part  of  this  whole,  but  there  is  much  in 
it  besides  the  material  organisation.  Tha  ethics  of 
Christianity  suffered  much  harm  and  were  degraded 
into  a  false  and  slavish  asceticism  for  long  centuries,  by 
monastic  misunderstandings  of  wbat  Paul  meant  by 
the  flesh,  but  he  himself  was  too  clear-sighted  and  too 
high-toned  to  give  his  adhesion  to  the  superficial 
notion  that  the  body  is  the  seat  and  source  of  sin.  We 
need  look  no  further  than  the  catalogue  of  the  'works 
of  the  flesh'  which  immediately  follows  our  text,  for, 
although  it  begins  with  gross  sins  of  a  purely  fleshly 
kind,  it  passes  on  to  such  as  hatred,  emulations,  wrath, 
envyings  and  suchlike.  Many  of  these  works  of  the 
flesh  are  such  as  an  angel  with  an  evil  heart  could  do, 
whether  he  had  a  body  or  not.  It  seems  therefore 
right  to  say  that  the  one  member  of  the  contrast  is  the 
divine  Spirit  of  holiness,  and  the  other  is  man  as  he  is, 
without  the  life-giving  influence  of  the  Spirit  of  God. 
In  Paul's  thought  the  idea  of  the  flesh  always  included 
the  idea  of  sin,  and  the  desires  of  the  flesh  were  to  him 
not  merely  rebellious,  sensuous  passion,  but  the  sinful 
desires  of  godless  human  nature,  however  refined,  and 
as  some  would  say, '  spiritual'  these  might  be.  We  do 
not  need  to  inquire  more  minutely  as  to  the  meaning 
of  the  Apostle's  terms,  but  may  safely  take  them  as,  on 
the  one  hand,  referring  to  the  divine  Spirit  which 
imparts  life  and  holiness,  and  on  the  other  hand,  to 
human  nature  severed  from  God,  and  distracted  by  evil 
desires  because  wrenched  away  from  Him. 


V.16]         «WALK  IN  THE  SPIRIT*  155 

The  text  is  Paul's  battle-cry,  which  he  opposed  to  the 
Judaising  disturbers  in  Galatia.  They  said  'Do  thia 
and  that;  labour  at  a  round  of  observances;  live  by 
rule.'  Paul  said,  'No!  That  is  of  no  use;  you  will 
make  nothing  of  such  an  attempt  nor  will  ever  conquer 
evil  so.  Live  by  the  spirit  and  you  will  not  need  a 
hard  outward  law,  nor  will  you  be  in  bondage  to  the 
works  of  the  flesh.'  That  feud  in  the  Galatian  churches 
was  the  earliest  battle  which  Christianity  had  to  fight 
between  two  eternal  tendencies  of  thought — the  con- 
ception of  religion  as  consisting  in  outward  obedience 
to  a  law,  and  consequently  as  made  up  of  a  series  of 
painful  efforts  to  keep  it,  and  the  conception  of  religion 
as  being  first  the  implanting  of  a  new,  divine  life,  and 
needing  only  to  be  nourished  and  cared  for  in  order 
to  drive  forth  evils  from  the  heart,  and  so  to  show 
itself  living.  The  difference  goes  very  far  and  very 
deep,  and  these  two  views  of  what  religion  is  have 
each  their  adherents  to-day.  The  Apostle  throws  the 
whole  weight  of  his  authority  into  the  one  scale,  and 
emphatically  declares  this  as  the  one  secret  of  victory, 
•  Walk  in  the  Spirit,  and  ye  shall  not  fulfil  the  lusts  of 
the  flesh.' 

I.  What  it  is  to  walk  in  the  Spirit. 

The  thought  which  is  but  touched  upon  here  is  set 
forth  more  largely,  and  if  we  may  so  say,  profoundly, 
in  the  Epistle  to  the  Romans  (chap.  viii.).  There,  to 
walk  after  the  flesh,  is  substantially  the  same  as  to  be 
carnally  minded,  and  that  'mind  of  the  flesh'  is  re- 
garded as  being  by  fatal  necessity  not  'subject  to  the 
law  of  God,'  and  consequently  as  in  itself,  with  regard 
to  future  consequences,  to  be  death.  The  fleshly  mind 
which  is  thus  in  robcllion  against  the  law  of  God  ia 
sure  to  issue  in  *  desires  of  the  flesh,'  just  as  when  the 


156  GALATI ANS  [en.  v. 

pressure  is  taken  off,  some  ebullient  liquid  will  bubble. 
They  that  are  after  the  flesh  of  course  will  '  mind  the 
things  of  the  flesh.'  The  vehement  desires  which  we 
ckerish  when  we  are  separated  from  God  and  which  we 
call  sins,  are  graver  as  a  symptom  than  even  they  are 
in  themselves,  for  they  show  which  way  the  wind  blows, 
and  are  tell-tales  that  betray  the  true  direction  of  our 
nature.  If  we  were  not  after  the  flesh  we  should  not 
mind  the  things  of  the  flesh.  The  one  expression 
points  to  the  deep-seated  nature,  the  other  to  the 
superficial  actions  to  which  it  gives  rise. 

And  the  same  duality  belongs  to  the  life  of  those 
who  are  'after  the  Spirit.'  'To  walk,'  of  course,  means 
to  carry  on  the  practical  life,  and  the  Spirit  is  here 
thought  of  not  so  much  perhaps  as  the  path  on  which 
we  are  to  travel,  but  rather  as  the  norm  and  direction 
by  which  we  are  to  travel  on  life's  common  way.  Just 
as  the  desires  of  the  flesh  were  certain  to  be  done  by 
those  who  in  their  deepest  selves  belonged  to  the  flesh, 
BO  every  soul  which  has  received  the  unspeakable  gift 
of  newness  of  life  through  the  Spirit  of  God  will  have 
the  impulses  to  mind  and  do  the  things  of  the  Spirit.  If 
we  live  in  the  Spirit  we  shall  also — and  let  us  also — 
walk  in  the  Spirit. 

But  let  us  make  no  mistakes,  or  think  that  our  text 
in  its  great  commandment  and  radiant  hope  has  any 
word  of  cheer  to  those  who  have  not  received  into 
their  hearts,  in  however  feeble  a  manner  and  minute  a 
measure,  the  Spirit  of  the  Son.  The  first  question  for 
us  all  is,  have  we  received  the  Holy  Ghost? — and  the 
answer  to  that  question  is  the  answer  to  the  other, 
have  we  accepted  Christ?  It  is  through  Ilim  and 
through  faith  in  Him  that  that  supreme  gift  of  a  living 
spirit  is  bestowed.    And  only  when  our  spirits  bear 


7.U]         *  WALK  IN  THE  SPIRIT*  157 

"Witness  with  that  Spirit  that  we  are  the  children  oi 
God,  have  we  a  right  to  look  upon  the  text  as  pointing 
our  duty  and  stimulating  our  hope.  If  our  practical 
life  is  to  be  directed  by  the  Spirit  of  God,  He  must 
enter  into  our  spirits,  and  we  shall  not  be  in  Him  but 
in  the  measure  that  He  is  in  us.  Nor  will  our  spirits 
be  life  because  of  righteousness  unless  He  dwells  in  us 
and  casts  forth  the  works  of  the  flesh.  There  will  be 
no  practical  direction  of  our  lives  by  the  Spirit  of  God 
unless  we  make  conscience  of  cultivating  the  reception 
of  His  life-giving  and  cleansing  influences,  and  unless 
we  have  inward  communion  with  our  inward  guide, 
intimate  and  frank,  prolonged  and  submissive.  If  we 
are  for  ever  allowing  the  light  of  our  inward  godliness 
to  be  blown  about  by  gusts,  or  to  show  in  our  inmost 
hearts  but  a  faint  and  flickering  spark,  how  can  we 
expect  that  it  will  shine  safe  direction  on  our  outward 
path? 

II.  Such  walking  in  the  Spirit  conquers  the  flesh. 

We  all  know  it  as  a  familiar  experience  that  the 
surest  way  to  conquer  any  strong  desire  or  emotion  is 
to  bring  some  other  into  operation.  To  concentrate 
attention  on  any  overmastering  thought  or  purpose, 
even  if  our  object  is  to  destroy  it,  is  but  too  apt  to 
strengthen  it.  And  so  to  fix  our  minds  on  our  own 
desires  of  the  flesh,  even  though  we  may  be  honestly 
wishing  to  suppress  them,  is  a  sure  way  to  invest  them 
with  new  force ;  therefore  the  wise  counsels  of  sages 
and  moralists  are,  for  the  most  part,  destined  to  lead 
those  who  listen  to  them  astray.  Many  a  man  has,  in 
good  faith,  set  himself  to  conquer  his  own  evil  lusts 
and  has  found  that  the  nett  result  of  his  struggles  has 
been  to  make  the  lusts  more  conspicuous  and  corre- 
spondingly roore  powerful.   The  Apostle  knows  a  better 


158  GALATIANS  [ch.  v. 

way,  which  he  has  proved  to  his  own  experience,  and 
now,  with  full  confidence  and  triumph,  presses  upon  hU 
hearers.  He  would  have  them  give  uplhe  monotonous 
and  hopeless  fight  against  the  flesh  and  bring  another 
ally  into  the  field.  His  chief  exhortation  is  a  positive, 
not  a  negative  one.  It  is  vain  to  try  to  tie  up  men  with 
restrictions  and  prohibitions,  which  when  their  desires 
are  stirred  will  be  burst  like  Samson's  bonds.  But  if 
once  the  positive  exhortation  here  is  obeyed,  then  it 
will  surely  make  short  work  of  the  desires  and  passions 
which  otherwise  men,  for  the  most  part,  do  not  wish 
to  get  rid  of,  and  never  do  throw  off  by  any  other 
method. 

We  have  pointed  out  that  in  our  text  to  walk  in  the 
Spirit  means  to  regulate  the  practical  life  by  the  Spirit 
of  God,  and  that  the  'desires  of  the  flesh'  mean  the 
desires  of  the  whole  human  nature  apart  from  God.  But 
even  if  we  take  the  contrasted  terms  in  their  lower  and 
commonly  adopted  sense,  the  text  is  true  and  useful. 
A  cultivated  mind  habituated  to  lofty  ideas,  and  quick 
to  feel  the  nobility  of  'spiritual'  pursuits  and  posses- 
sions, will  have  no  taste  for  the  gross  delights  of  sense, 
and  will  recoil  with  disgust  from  the  indulgences  in 
which  more  animal  natures  wallow.  But  while  this  is 
true,  it  by  no  means  exhausts  the  great  principle  laid 
down  here.  We  must  take  the  contrasted  terms  in 
their  fullest  meaning  if  we  would  arrive  at  it.  The 
spiritual  life  derived  from  Jesus  Christ  and  lodged  in 
the  human  spirit  has  to  be  guarded,  cherished  and 
made  dominant,  and  then  it  will  drive  out  the  old.  If 
the  Spirit  which  is  life  because  of  righteousness  is 
allowed  free  course  in  a  human  spirit,  it  will  send  forth 
its  powers  into  the  body  which  is  '  dead  because  of  sin,' 
will  regulate  its  desires,  and  if  needful  will  suppress 


7.16]  *WALK  IN  THE  SPIRIT'  159 

thenL  And  it  is  wiser  and  more  blossod  to  rely  on  this 
overflowing  influence  than  to  attempt  the  hopeless 
task  of  coercing  these  desires  by  our  own  efforts. 

If  we  walk  in  the  Spirit,  we  shall  thereby  acquire 
new  tastes  and  desires  of  a  higher  kind  which  will 
destroy  the  lower.  They  to  whom  manna  is  sweet  as 
angel's  food  find  that  they  have  lost  their  relish  for  the 
strong-smelling  and  rank-flavoured  Egyptian  leeks  and 
garlic.  A  guest  at  a  king's  table  will  not  care  to 
enter  a  smoky  hovel  and  will  not  be  hungry  for  the 
food  to  be  found  there.  If  we  are  still  dependent  on 
the  desires  of  the  flesh  we  are  still  but  children,  and  if 
we  are  walking  in  the  Spirit  we  have  outgrown  our 
childish  toys.  The  enjoyment  of  the  gifts  which  the 
Spirit  gives  deadens  temptation  and  robs  many  things 
that  were  very  precious  of  their  lustre. 

We  may  also  illustrate  the  great  principle  of  our 
text  by  considering  that  when  we  have  found  our 
supreme  object  there  is  no  inducement  to  wander 
further  in  the  search  after  delights.  Desires  are  con- 
fessions of  discontent,  and  though  the  absolute  satis- 
faction of  all  our  nature  is  not  granted  to  us  here, 
there  is  so  much  of  blessedness  given  and  so  many  of 
our  most  clamant  desires  fully  met  in  the  gift  of  life  in 
Christ,  that  we  may  well  be  free  from  the  prickings  of 
desires  which  sting  men  into  earnest  seeking  after 
often  unreal  good.  *The  fruit  of  the  Spirit  is  love,  joy, 
peace,*  and  surely  if  wo  have  these  we  may  well  leave 
the  world  its  troubled  delights  and  felicities.  Christ's 
joy  remains  in  us  and  our  joy  is  full.  The  world  desires 
because  it  does  not  possess.  When  a  deeper  well  ia 
sunk,  a  shallower  one  is  pretty  sure  to  give  out.  If  we 
walk  in  the  Spirit  we  go  down  to  the  deepest  water- 
holdiug  stratum,  and  all  the  surface  wells  will  run  dry. 


160  GALATIANS  [ch.  v. 

Further,  w«  may  note,  that  this  walking  isi  th«  Spirit 
brings  into  our  lives  the  mightiest  motiveg  of  holy 
living  and  so  puts  a  bridle  on  the  necks  and  a  bit  in 
the  mouths  of  our  untamed  desires.  Holding  fellow- 
ship with  the  divine  Indweller  and  giving  the  reins  into 
His  strong  hand,  we  receive  from  Him  the  spirit  of 
adoption  and  learn  that  if  we  are  children  then  are 
we  heirs.  Is  there  any  motive  that  will  so  surely  still' 
the  desires  of  the  flesh  and  of  the  mind  as  the  blessed 
thought  that  God  is  ours  and  we  His?  Surely  their 
feet  should  never  stumble  or  stray,  who  are  aware  of 
the  Spirit  of  the  Son  bearing  witness  with  their  spirit 
that  they  are  the  children  of  God.  Surely  the  measure 
in  which  we  realise  this  will  be  the  measure  in  which 
the  desires  of  the  flesh  will  be  whipped  back  to  their 
kennels,  and  cease  to  disturb  us  with  their  barks. 

The  whole  question  here  as  between  Paul  and  his 
opponents  just  comes  to  this ;  if  a  field  is  covered  with 
filth,  whether  is  it  better  to  set  to  work  on  it  with  wheel- 
barrows and  shovels,  or  to  turn  a  river  on  it  which  will 
bear  away  all  the  foulness?  The  true  way  to  change 
the  fauna  and  flora  of  a  country  is  to  change  the 
level,  and  as  the  height  increases  they  change  them- 
selves. If  we  desir§  to  have  the  noxious  creatures 
expelled  from  ourselves,  we  must  not  so  much  labour 
at  their  expulsion  as  see  to  the  elevation  of  our  own 
personal  being  and  then  we  shall  succeed.  That  is 
what  Paul  says,  'Walk  in  the  Spirit,  and  ye  shall  not 
fulfil  the  lusts  of  the  flesh.' 

III.  Such  a  life  is  not  freed  from  the  necessity  of 
struggle. 

The  highest  condition,  of  course,  would  be  that  we 
had  only  to  grow,  not  to  fight.  It  will  come  some  day 
that  all  evil  shall  drop  away,  and  that  to  walk  in  tho 


V.16]  *  WALK  IN  THE  SPIRIT'  161 

Spirit  will  need  no  effort,  but  that  time  has  not  come 
yet.  So  in  addition  to  all  that  we  have  been  saying  in 
this  sermon,  we  must  further  say  that  Paul's  exhorta- 
tion has  always  to  bo  coupled  with  the  other  to  fight 
the  good  fight.  The  highest  word  for  our  earthly  lives 
is  not  'victory'  but  'contest.*  We  shall  not  walk  in 
the  Spirit  without  many  a  struggle  to  keep  ourselves 
within  that  charmed  atmosphere.  The  promise  of  our 
text  is  not  that  we  shall  not  feel,  but  that  we  shall  not 
fulfil,  the  desires  of  the  flesh. 

Now  this  is  very  commonplace  and  threadbare 
teaching,  but  it  is  none  the  less  important,  and  is 
especially  needful  to  be  strongly  emphasised  when 
we  have  been  speaking  as  we  have  just  been  doing. 
It  is  a  historical  fact,  illustrated  over  and  over  again 
since  Paul  wrote,  and  not  without  illustration  to-day, 
that  there  is  constant  danger  of  lax  morality  infect- 
ing Christian  life  under  pretence  of  lofty  spirituality. 
So  it  must  ever  be  insisted  upon  that  the  test  of  a 
true  walking  in  the  Spirit  is  that  we  are  thereby 
fitted  to  fight  against  the  desires  of  the  flesh.  When 
we  have  the  life  of  the  Spirit  within  us,  it  will 
show  itself  as  Paul  has  said  in  another  place  by  the 
righteousness  of  the  law  being  fulfilled  in  us,  and  by 
our  '  mortifying  the  deeds  of  the  body.'  The  gift  of  the 
Spirit  does  not  take  us  out  of  the  ranks  of  the  com- 
batants, but  teaches  us  to  fight,  and  arms  us  with  its 
own  sword  for  the  conflict.  There  will  be  abundant 
opportunities  of  courage  in  attacking  the  sin  that  doth 
so  easily  beset  us,  and  in  resisting  temptations  which 
come  to  us  by  reason  of  our  own  imperfect  sanctifi- 
cation.  But  there  is  all  the  difference  between  fighting 
at  our  own  hand  and  fighting  with  the  help  of  God's 
Spirit,  and  there  is  all  the  difference  be  I  ween  fighting 

L 


162  GAUATIANS  [OH.V. 

with  the  help  of  an  unseen  ally  in  heaven  and  fighting 
with  a  Spirit  within  us  who  holpoth  our  infirmities  and 
Himself  makes  us  able  to  contend,  and  sure,  if  we  keep 
true  to  Him,  to  be  more  than  conquerers  through  Him 
that  loveth  us. 

Such  a  conflict  is  a  gift  and  a  joy.  It  is  hard  but  it  is 
blessed,  because  it  is  an  expression  of  our  truest  love ; 
it  comes  from  our  deepest  will ;  it  is  full  of  hope  and  of 
assured  victory.  How  different  is  the  painful,  often 
defeated  and  monotonous  attempt  to  suppress  our 
nature  by  main  force,  and  to  tread  a  mill-horse  round! 
The  joyous  freedom  and  buoyant  hope  taught  us  in  the 
gospel  way  of  salvation  have  been  cramped  and  confined 
and  all  their  glories  veiled  as  by  a  mass  of  cobwebs 
spun  beneath  a  golden  roof,  but  our  text  sweeps  away 
the  foul  obstruction.  Let  us  learn  the  one  condition  of 
victorious  conflict,  the  one  means  of  subduing  our 
natural  humanity  and  its  distracting  desires,  and  let 
nothing  rob  us  of  the  conviction  that  this  is  God's  way 
of  making  men  like  angels.  '  Walk  in  the  Spirit,  and  ye 
shall  not  fulfil  the  lusts  of  the  flesh.' 


THE  FRUIT  OF  THE  SPIRIT 

•But  the  fruit  of  tho  Spirit  is  lovo.  joy,  peace,  long-suffering,  gentleness,  good- 
nesa.  faith,    23.  Mceknese,  temperance  '--Gal.  v.  22.  23. 

•The  fruit  of  tho  Spirit,'  says  Paul,  not  the  fruits,  as 
we  might  more  naturally  have  expected,  and  as  the 
phrase  is  most  often  quoted ;  all  this  rich  variety  of 
graces,  of  conduct  and  character,  is  thought  of  as  one. 
The  individual  members  are  not  isolated  graces,  but 
all  connected,  springing  from  one  root  and  constituting 
an  organic  whole.    There  is  further  to  be  noted  that 


V8.22.23]  THE  FRUIT  OF  THE  SPIRIT    163 

the  Apostle  designates  the  results  of  the  Spirit  as 
fruit,  in  strong  and  intentional  contrast  with  the 
results  of  the  flesh,  the  grim  catalogue  of  which 
precedes  the  radiant  list  in  our  text.  The  works  of 
the  flesh  have  no  such  unity,  and  are  not  worthy  of 
being  called  fruit.  They  are  not  what  a  man  ought  to 
bring  forth,  and  when  the  great  Husbandman  comes, 
He  finds  no  fruit  there,  however  full  of  activity  the 
life  has  been.  We  have  then  here  an  ideal  of  the 
noblest  Christian  character,  and  a  distinct  and  pro- 
found teaching  as  to  how  to  attain  it.  I  venture  to 
take  the  whole  of  this  list  for  my  text,  because  the 
very  beauty  of  each  element  in  it  depends  on  its  being 
but  part  of  a  whole,  and  because  there  are  important 
lessons  to  be  gathered  from  the  grouping. 

I.  The  threefold  elements  of  character  here. 

It  is  perhaps  not  too  artificial  to  point  out  that  we 
have  here  three  triads  of  which  the  first  describes  the 
life  of  the  Spirit  in  its  deepest  secret ;  the  second,  the 
same  life  in  its  manifestations  to  men ;  and  the  third, 
that  life  in  relation  to  the  difficulties  of  the  world,  and 
of  ourselves. 

The  first  of  these  three  triads  includes  love,  joy,  and 
peace,  and  it  is  not  putting  too  great  a  strain  on  the 
words  to  point  out  that  the  source  of  all  three  lies  in 
the  Christian  relation  to  God.  They  regard  nothing 
but  God  and  our  relation  to  Him ;  they  would  be  all 
the  same  if  there  were  no  other  men  in  the  world,  or 
if  there  were  no  world.  We  cannot  call  them  datiea 
or  virtues ;  they  are  simply  the  results  of  communion 
with  God — the  certain  manifestations  of  the  better  life 
of  the  Spirit.  Love,  of  course,  heads  the  li«t,  as  the 
foundation  and  moving  principle  of  all  the  rest.  It  is 
the  instinctive  act  of  the  higher  life  and  is  shed  abroad 


164  GALATIANS  [oh.  v. 

in  the  heart  by  the  Holy  Spirit.  It  is  the  life  sap 
which  rises  through  the  tree  and  gives  form  to  all  the 
clusters.  The  remaining  two  members  of  this  triad 
are  plainly  consequences  of  the  first.  Joy  is  not  so 
much  an  act  or  a  grace  of  character  as  an  emotion 
poured  into  men's  lives,  because  in  their  hearts  abides 
love  to  God.  Jesus  Christ  pledged  Himself  to  impart 
His  joy  to  remain  in  us,  with  the  issue  that  our  joy 
should  be  full.  There  is  only  one  source  of  permanent 
joy  which  takes  possession  of  and  fills  all  the  corners 
and  crannies  of  the  heart,  and  that  is  a  love  towards 
God  equally  abiding  and  all-pervasive.  We  have  all 
known  joys  so  perturbed,  fragmentary  and  fleeting, 
that  it  is  hard  to  distinguish  them  from  sorrows,  but 
there  is  no  need  that  joys  should  be  like  green  fruit, 
hard  and  savourless  and  ready  to  drop  from  the  tree. 
If  God  is  *  the  gladness  of  our  joy,'  and  all  our  delights 
come  from  communion  with  Him,  our  joy  will  never 
pass  and  will  fill  the  whole  round  of  our  spirits  as  the 
sea  laves  every  shore. 

Peace  will  be  built  upon  love  and  joy,  if  our  hearts 
are  ever  turning  to  God  and  ever  blessed  with  the 
inter-communion  of  love  between  Him  and  us.  What 
can  be  strong  enough  to  disturb  the  tranquillity  that 
fills  the  soul  independent  of  all  externals?  However 
long  and  close  may  be  the  siege,  the  well  in  the  castle 
courtyard  will  be  full.  True  peace  comes  not  from 
tbe  absence  of  trouble  but  from  the  presence  of  God, 
and  will  be  deep  and  passing  all  understanding  in 
the  exact  measure  in  which  we  live  in,  and  partake 
of,  the  love  of  God. 

The  second  triad  is  long-suffering,  kindness,  good- 
ness. All  these  three  obviously  refer  to  the  spiritual 
life  in  its  manifestations  to  men.  „  The  first  of  them— 


v..  29. 23]  THE  FRUIT  OF  THE  SPIRIT    165 

long-suffering— describes  the  attitude  of  patient  en- 
durance towards  inflictors  of  injury^  or  enemies,  if  we 
come  forth  from  the  blessed  fellowship  with  God, 
where  love,  joy,  and  peace  reign  unbroken,  and  are  met 
with  a  cold  gust  of  indifference  or  with  an  icy  wind  of 
hate.  The  reality  of  our  happy  communion  and  the 
depth  of  our  love  will  be  tested  by  the  patience  of  our 
long-suffering.  Love  suffereth  long,  is  not  easily  pro- 
voked, is  not  soon  angry.  He  has  little  reason  to 
suppose  that  the  love  of  God  is  shed  abroad  in  his 
heart,  or  that  the  Spirit  of  God  is  bringing  forth  fruit 
in  him,  who  has  not  got  beyond  the  stage  of  repaying 
hate  with  hate,  and  scorn  with  scorn.  Any  fool  can 
answer  a  fool  according  to  his  folly,  but  it  takes  a  wise 
and  a  good  man  to  overcome  evil  with  good,  and  to 
love  them  that  hate ;  and  yet  how  certainly  the  fires 
of  mutual  antagonism  would  go  out  if  there  were  only 
one  to  pile  on  the  fuel !  It  takes  two.  to  make  a  quarrel, 
and  no  man  living  under  the  influence  of  the  Spirit  of 
God  can  be  one  of  such  a  pair. 

The  second  and  third  members  of  this  triad — kind- 
ness, goodness,  slide  very  naturally  into  one  another. 
They  do  not  only  require  the  negative  virtue  of  not 
retaliating,  but  express  the  Christian  attitude  towards 
all  of  meeting  them,  whatever  their  attitude,  with 
good.  It  is  possible  that  kindness  here  expresses  the 
inward  disposition  and  goodness,  the  habitual  actions 
in  which  that  disposition  shows  itself.  If  that  be  the 
distinction  between  them,  the  former  would  answer  to 
benevolence  and  the  latter  to  beneficence.  These 
three  graces  include  all  that  Paul  presents  as  Christian 
duty  to  our  fellows.  The  results  of  the  life  of  the 
Spirit  are  to  pass  beyond  ourselves  and  to  influence 
our  whole  conduct.     We  are  not  to  live  only  as  mainly 


166  GALATIANS  [ch.t. 

for  the  spiritual  enjoyments  of  fellowship  with  God. 
The  true  field  of  religion  is  in  moving  amongst  men, 
and  the  true  basis  of  all  service  of  men  is  love  and 
fellowship  with  God. 

The  third  triad — faithfulness,  meekness,  temperance — 
seems  to  point  to  the  world  in  which  the  Christian  life 
is  to  bo  lived  as  a  scene  of  difficulties  and  oppositions. 
The  rendering  of  the  Revised  Version  is  to  be  preferred 
to  that  of  the  Authorised  in  the  first  of  the  three,  for  it 
is  not  faith  in  its  theological  sense  to  which  the  Apostle 
is  hero  referring.  Possibly,  however,  the  meaning  may 
be  trustfulness  just  as  in  1  Corinthians  xiii.  it  is  given 
as  a  characteristic  of  love  that  it  'believeth  all  things/ 
More  probably,  however,  the  meaning  is  faithfulness, 
and  Paul's  thought  is  that  the  Christian  life  is  to 
manifest  itself  in  the  faithful  discharge  of  all  duties 
and  the  honest  handling  of  all  things  committed  to  it. 
Meekness  even  more  distinctly  contemplates  a  con- 
dition of  things  which  is  contrary  to  the  Christian 
life,  and  points  to  a  submissivencss  of  spirit  which  does 
not  lift  itself  up  against  oppositions,  but  bends  like  a 
reed  before  the  storm.  Paul  preached  meekness  and 
practised  it,  but  Paul  could  flash  into  strong  opposition 
and  with  a  resonant  ring  in  his  voice  could  say  'To 
whom  we  gave  place  by  subjection,  No!  not  for  an 
hour.  The  last  member  of  the  triad — temperance — 
points  to  the  difficulties  which  the  spiritual  life  is  apt 
to  meet  with  in  the  natural  passions  and  desires,  and 
insists  upon  the  fact  that  conflict  and  rigid  and 
habitual  self-control  are  sure  to  be  marks  of  that 
life. 

II.  The  unity  of  the  fruit. 

We  have  already  pointed  out  the  Apostle  s  remark- 
able use  of  the  word  '  fruit '  here,  by  which  he  indicates 


vs.  22, 23]  THE  FRUIT  OF  THE  SPIRIT    167 

that  all  the  results  of  the  life  of  the  Spirit  in  the  human 
spirit  are  to  be  regarded  as  a  whole  that  has  a  natural 
growth.  The  foundation  of  all  is  of  course  that  love 
which  is  the  fulfilling  of  the  law.  It  scarcely  needs  to 
be  pointed  out  how  love  brings  forth  both  the  other 
elements  of  the  first  triad,  but  it  is  no  less  important  to 
note  that  it  and  its  two  companions  naturally  lead  on 
to  the  relations  to  men  which  make  up  the  second 
triad.  It  is,  however,  worth  while  to  dwell  on  that 
fact  because  there  are  many  temptations  for  Christian 
people  to  separate  between  them.  The  two  tables  of 
the  law  are  not  seldom  written  so  far  apart  that  their 
unity  ceases  to  be  noted.  There  are  many  good  people 
whose  notions  of  religious  duties  are  shut  up  in 
ichurches  or  chapels  and  limited  to  singing  and  praying, 
reading  the  Bible  and  listening  to  sermons,  and  who, 
even  while  they  are  doing  good  service  in  common  life, 
do  not  feel  that  it  is  as  much  a  religious  duty  to 
suppress  the  wish  to  retaliate  as  it  is  to  sit  in  the 
sunshine  of  God's  love  and  to  feel  Christ's  joy  and 
peace  filling  the  heart.  On  the  other  hand  many  loud 
voices,  some  of  them  with  great  force  of  words  and 
influence  on  the  popular  mind,  are  never  wearied  of 
preaching  that  Christianity  is  worn  out  as  a  social 
impulse,  and  that  the  service  of  man  has  nothing  to 
do  with  the  love  of  God.  As  plainly  Paul's  first  triad 
naturally  leads  to  his  third.  When  the  spiritual  life 
has  realised  its  deepest  secret  it  will  be  strong  to  mani- 
fest itself  as  vigorous  in  reference  to  the  difficulties  of 
life.  When  that  heart  is  blessed  in  its  own  settled 
love,  abounding  joy  and  untroubled  peace,  faithfulness 
and  submission  will  both  be  possible  and  self-control 
will  not  be  hard. 
III.  The  culture  of  the  tree  which  secures  the  fruit. 


1G8  GALATIANS  [en.  v. 

Can  we  suppose  that  the  Apostle  here  is  going  back 
in  thought  to  our  Lord's  profound  teaching  that  every 
good  tree  bringcth  forth  good  fruit,  but  the  corruj^t 
tree  briugeth  forth  evil  fruit?  The  obvious  felicity  of 
that  metaphor  often  conceals  for  us  the  drastic  force 
of  its  teaching,  it  regards  all  a  man's  conduct  as  but 
the  outcome  of  his  character,  and  brushes  aside  as 
trifling  all  attempts  at  altering  products,  whilst  the 
producer  remains  unaltered.  Whether  Paul  was  here 
alluding  to  a  known  saying  of  Jesus  or  no,  he  was 
insisting  upon  the  very  centre  of  Christian  ethics,  that 
a  man  must  first  be  good  in  order  to  do  good  Our 
Lord's  words  seemed  to  make  an  impossible  demand — 
*  Make  the  tree  good ' — as  the  only  way  of  securing  good 
fruit,  and  it  was  in  accordance  with  the  whole  cast  of  tho 
Sermon  on  the  Mount  that  the  means  of  realising  that 
demand  was  left  unexpressed.  But  Paul  stood  on  this 
side  of  Pentecost,  and  what  was  necessarily  veiled  in 
Christ's  earlier  utterances  stood  forth  a  revealed  and 
blessed  certainty  to  him.  He  had  not  to  say '  Make  tho 
tree  good'  and  be  silent  as  to  how  that  process  was  to 
be  effected ;  to  him  the  message  had  been  committed, 
•The  Spirit  also  helpeth  our  infirmity.'  There  is  but 
one  way  by  which  a  corrupt  tree  can  be  made  good, 
and  that  is  by  grafting  into  the  wild  briar  stock  a 
'  layer '  from  the  rose.  The  Apostle  had  a  double  message 
to  proclaim,  and  the  one  part  was  built  upon  the  other. 
He  had  first  to  preach—- and  this  day  has  first  to  believe 
that  God  has  sent  His  own  Son  in  the  likeness  of  sinful 
flesh  and  as  an  offering  for  sin—and  then  he  had  to 
proclaim  that,  through  that  mission,  it  became  possible 
that  the  ordinance  of  the  law  might  be  fulGllcd  in  u9 
who  •  walk  not  after  tho  flesh  but  after  the  spirit'  The 
beginning,  then,  of  all  true  goodness  is  to  be  sought  in 


VB.22,23]  THE  FRUIT  OF  THE  SPIRIT     169 

receiving  into  our  corrupt  natures  the  uncorrupted* 
germs  of  the  higher  life,  and  it  is  only  in  the  measure 
in  which  that  Spirit  of  God  moves  in  our  spirits  and, 
like  the  sap  in  the  vine,  permeates  every  branch  and 
tendril,  that  fruit  to  eternal  life  will  grow.  Christian 
graces  are  the  products  of  the  indwelling  divine  life, 
and  nothing  else  will  succeed  in  producing  them.  All 
the  preachings  of  moralists  and  all  the  struggles' 
after  self-improvement  are  reduced  to  impotence  and 
vanity  by  the  stern,  curt  sentence— *  a  corrupt  tree  can- 
not bring  forth  good  fruit.  Surely  it  should  como 
to  us  all  as  a  true  gospel  when  we  feel  ourselves 
foiled  by  our  own  evil  nature  in  our  attempts  to  be 
better,  that  the  first  thing  we  have  to  do  is  not  to 
labour  at  cither  of  the  two  impossible  tasks  of  the 
making  our  bad  selves  good,  or  of  the  getting  good 
fruits  from  bad  selves,  but  to  open  our  spirits  through 
faith  in  Jesus  for  the  entrance  into  us  of  His  Spirit 
which  will  change  our  corruption  into  incorruptibn, 
and  cleanse  us  from  all  filthiness  of  flesh  and  spirit. 
Shall  we  not  seek  to  become  recipient  of  that  new  life, 
and  having  received  it,  should  we  not  give  diligence 
that  it  may  in  us  produce  all  its  natural  effects? 

These  fruits,  though  they  are  the  direct  results  of  the 
indwelling  Spirit  and  will  never  be  produced  without  its 
presence,  are  none  the  less  truly  dependent  upon  our 
manner  of  receiving  that  Spirit  and  on  our  faithfulness 
and  diligence  in  the  use  of  its  gifts.  It  is,  alas !  sadly 
too  true,  and  matter  of  tragically  common  experience 
that  instead  of  'trees  of  righteousness,  the  planting  of 
the  Lord'  heavy  with  ruddy  clusters,  there  are  but 
dwarfed  and  scrubby  bushes  which  have  scarcely  life 
enough  to  keep  up  a  little  show  of  green  leaves  and 
*brmg  no  fruit  to  perfection.     Would  that  so-called 


170  GALATIANS  [ch.v. 

Christian  people  would  more  earnestly  and  scarcbingly 
ask  themselves  why  it  is  that,  with  such  possibilities 
offered  to  them,  their  actual  attainments  should  bo 
80  small.  They  have  a  power  which  is  able  to  do  for 
them  exceeding  abundantly  above  all  that  they  can 
ask  or  think,  and  its  actual  effects  on  them  are  well  on 
this  side  of  both  their  petitions  and  their  conceptions.  • 
There  need  be  no  difficulty  in  answering  the  question 
why  our  Christian  liyea  do  not  correspond  more  closely 
to  the  Spirit  that  inspires  them.  The  plain  answer  is 
that  we  have  not  cultivated,  used,  and  obeyed  Him.  The 
Lord  of  the  vineyard  would  less  often  have  to  ask 
•Wherefore  when  I  looked  that  it  should  bring  forth 
grapes,  brought  it  forth  wild  grapes?'  if  we  listened 
more  obediently  to  the  pathetic  command  which  surely 
should  touch  a  grateful  heart — 'Grieve  not  the  holy 
Spirit  of  God  whereby  ye  are  sealed  unto  the  day 
of  redemption.' 

IV.  How  this  is  the  only  worthy  fruit. 

We  have  already  pointed  out  that  the  Apostle  in  the 
preceding  context  varies  his  terms,  and  catalogues  tho 
actions  that  come  from  the  godless  self  as  works,  whilst 
those  which  are  the  outcome  of  the  Spirit  are  fruit. 
The  distinction  thus  drawn  is  twofold.  Multiplicity 
is  contrasted  with  unity  and  fruit  with  works.  Tho 
deeds  of  the  flesh  have  noconsistency  except  that  of  evil ; 
they  are  at  variance  with  themselves — a  huddled  mob 
•without  regularity  or  order ;  and  they  are  works  indeed, 
but  so  disproportionate  to  the  nature  of  the  doer  and 
his  obligations  that  they  do  not  deserve  to  be  called 
fruit.  It  is  not  to  attach  too  much  importance  to  an 
accidental  form  of  speech  to  insist  upon  tiiis  distinctioa 
as  intended  to  be  drawn,  and  as  suggesting  to  us  very 
Bolemn  thoughts  about  many  apparently  very  activo 


V3  22,23]  BURDEN-BEARING  171 

lives.  The  man  who  lives  to  God  truly  lives ;  the  busiest 
life  which  is  not  rooted  in  Him  and  directed  towards 
Hira  has  so  far  missed  its  aim  as  to  have  brought  forth 
no  good  fruit,  and  therefore  to  have  incurred  the 
sentence  that  it  is  cut  down  and  cast  into  the  Cre. 
There  is  a  very  remarkable  expression  in  Scripture, 
•The  unfruitful  works  of  darkness,*  which  admits  the 
busy  occupation  and  energy  of  the  doors  and  denies 
that  all  that  struggling  and  striving  comes  to  anything. 
Done  in  the  dark,  they  seemed  to  have  some  signiQcanco, 
when  the  light  comes  in  they  vanish.  It  is  for  us 
to  determine  whether  our  lives  shall  be  works  of 
the  flesh,  full,  perhaps,  of  a  time  of  'sound  and  fury,* 
but  'signifying  nothing,'  or  whether  they  shall  be 
fruits  of  the  Spirit,  which  we  '  who  have  gathered  shall 
eat  in  the  courts  of  His  holiness.*  They  will  be  so  if, 
living  in  the  Spirit,  we  walk  in  the  Spirit,  but  if  we  '  sow 
to  the  flesh'  we  shall  have  a  harder  husbandry  and  a 
bitterer  harvest  when  *.of  the  flesh  we  reap  corruption,* 
and  hoar  the  awful  and  unanswerable  question,  '  What 
fruit  had  ye  then  of  those  things  whereof  ye  are  now 
ashamed  ? ' 


BURDEN-BEARING 

*  Bear  ye  one  another's  burdens,  and  so  fulfil  the  law  of  Christ.  .  •  .  6.  For  every 
man  shall  bear  his  own  burden.'— Oal.  vi.  2  5. 

The  injunction  in  the  former  of  these  verses  appears, 
at  first  sight,  to  be  inconsistent  with  the  statement  in 
the  latter.  But  Paul  has  a  way  of  setting  side  by  side 
two  superficially  contradictory  clauses,  in  order  that 
attention  may  be  awakened,  and  that  we  may  make  an 
effort  to  apprehend  the  point  of  reconciliation  between 
them.    So,  for  instance,  you  remember  he  puts  in  one 


172  GALATIANS  [en  vi. 

sentence,  and  couples  together  by  a  'for,'  these  two 
sayings:  'Work  out  your  own  salvation';  'It  is  God 
that  worketh  in  you.'  So  here  he  has  been  exhorting 
the  Galatian  Christians  to  restore  a  fallen  brother. 
That  is  one  case  to  which  the  general  commandment, 
'Bear  ye  one  another's  burdens,'  is  applicable. 

I  cannot  here  enter  on  the  intervening  verses  by 
which  he  glides  from  the  one  to  the  other  of  these  two 
thoughts  which  I  have  coupled  together,  but  I  may 
just  point  out  in  a  word  the  outline  of  his  course  of 
thought.  '  Bear  ye  one  another's  burden,'  says  he ;  and 
then  he  thinks,  'What  is  it  that  keeps  men  from  bear- 
ing each  other's  burdens?'  Being  swallowed  up  with 
themselves,  and  especially  being  conceited  about  their 
own  strength  and  goodness.  And  so  he  goes  on :  'If 
a  man  think  himself  to  be  something  when  he  is  nothing, 
he  deceives  himself.'  And  what  is  the  best  cure  for 
all  these  fancies  inside  us  of  how  strong  and  good  we 
are?  To  look  at  our  work  with  an  impartial  and  rigid 
judgment.  It  is  easy  for  a  man  to  plume  himself  on 
being  good,  and  strong,  and  great ;  but  let  him  look  at 
what  he  has  done,  and  try  that  by  a  high  standard, 
and  that  will  knock  the  conceit  out  of  him.  Or,  if  his 
work  stands  the  test,  then  '  he  shall  have  rejoicing  in 
himself,  and  not'  by  comparing  himself  with  other 
people.  T"tvo  blacks  do  not  make  a  white,  and  we  aro 
not  to  heighten  the  lustre  of  our  own  whiteness  by 
comparing  it  with  our  neighbour's  blackness.  Take 
your  act  for  what  it  is  worth,  apart  altogether  from 
■what  other  people  are.  Do  not  say,  'God  I  I  thank 
thee  that  1  am  not  as  other  men  are  ...  or  even 
as  this  publican';  but  look  to  yourself.  There  is  an 
occupation  with  self  which  is  good,  and  is  a  help  to 
brotherly  sympathy. 


V8.2.B]  BURDEN-BEARING  173 

And  so  the  Apostle  has  worked  round,  you  soc,  to 
almost  an  opposite  thought  from  the  one  with  which 
ho  started.  '  Bear  ye  one  another's  burdens.'  Yes,  but 
a  man's  work  is  his  own  and  nobody  else's,  and  a 
man's  character  is  his  own  and  nobody  else's,  so  'every 
man  shall  bear  his  own  burden.'  The  statements  are 
not  contradictory.  They  complete  each  other.  They 
are  the  north  and  the  south  polos,  and  between  them 
is  the  rounded  orb  of  the  whole  truth.  So  then,  let  mo 
point  out  that: 

I.  There  are  burdens  which  can  be  shared,  and  thero 
are  burdens  which  cannot. 

Let  us  take  the  case  from  which  the  whole  context 
has  arisen.  Paul  was  exhorting  the  Galatians,  as  I 
explained,  in  reference  to  their  duty  to  a  fallen  brother ; 
and  he  speaks  of  him — according  to  our  version — as 
•overtaken  in  a  fault.'  Now,  that  is  scarcely  his  idea, 
I  think.  The  phrase,  as  it  stands  in  our  Bibles,  suggests 
that  Paul  is  trying  to  minimise  the  gravity  of  the 
man's  offence ;  but  just  in  proportion  as  he  minimised 
its  gravity  would  he  weaken  his  exhortation  to  restore 
him.  But  what  he  is  really  doing  is  not  to  make 
as  little  as  possible  of  the  sin,  but  to  make  as  much 
of  it  as  is  consistent  with  the  truth.  The  word  'over- 
taken' suggests  that  some  sin,  like  a  tiger  in  a  jungle, 
springs  upon  a  man  and  overpowers  him  by  the  sudden- 
ness of  the  assault.  The  word  so  rendered  may  perhaps 
be  represented  by  some  such  phrase  as  *  discovered '; 
or,  if  I  may  use  a  'colloquialism,'  if  a  man  be  caught 
*rcd-handc3.'  That  is  the  idea.  And  Paul  does  not 
use  the  weak  word  *  fault,'  but  a  very  much  stronger 
one,  which  means  stark  staring  sin.  He  is  supposing 
a  bad  case  of  inconsistency,  and  is  not  palliating  it 
at  all.    Hero  is  a  brother  who  has  had  an  unblemished 


174  GALATIANS  [ch.  vi. 

reputation  ;  and  all  at  once  the  curtain  is  thrown  aside 
behind  which  he  is  working  some  wicked  thing;  and 
there  the  culprit  stands,  with  the  bull's-eye  light  flashed 
upon  him,  ashamed  and  trembling.  Paul  says,  'If  you 
are  a  spiritual  man' — there  is  irony  there  of  the  graver 
sort — 'show  your  spirituality  by  going  and  lifting  him 
up,  and  trying  to  help  him.'  When  he  says,  '  Restore 
such  an  one,'  he  uses  an  expression  which  is  employed 
in  other  connections  in  the  New  Testament,  such  as 
for  mending  the  broken  meshes  of  a  net,  for  repairing 
any  kind  of  damage,  for  setting  the  fractured  bones 
of  a  limb.  And  that  is  what  the  '  spiritual '  man  has  to 
do.  He  is  to  show  the  validity  of  his  claim  to  live  on 
high  by  stooping  down  to  the  man  bemiredand  broken- 
legged  in  the  dirt.  We  have  come  across  people  who 
chiefly  show  their  own  purity  by  their  harsh  con- 
demnation of  others'  sins.  One  has  heard  of  women 
so  very  virtuous  that  they  would  rather  hound  a  fallen 
sister  to  death  than  try  to  restore  her;  and  there  are 
saints  so  extremely  saintly  that  they  will  not  touch 
the  leper  to  heal  him,  for  fear  of  their  own  hands 
being  ceremonially  defiled.  Paul  says,  'Bear  ye  one 
another's  burdens';  and  especially  take  a  lift  of  each 
other's  sin. 

I  need  not  remind  you  how  the  same  command 
applies  in  relation  to  pecuniary  distress,  narrow  cir- 
cum'~>tances,  heavy  duties,  sorrows,  and  all  the  'ills 
that  flesh  is  heir  to.'  These  can  be  borne  by  sympathy, 
by  true  loving  outgoing  of  the  heart,  and  by  the 
rendering  of  such  practical  help  as  the  circumstances 
require. 

But  there  arc  burdens  that  cannot  be  borne  by  any 
but  the  man  himself. 

There  is  the  awful  burden  of  personal  existence.    It 


vs.  2-5]  BURDEN-BEARING  175 

is  a  solemn  thing  to  be  able  to  say  '  I.'  And  that  carries 
with  it  this,  that  after  all  sympathy,  after  all  nestling 
closeness  of  affection,  after  the  tenderest  exhibition  of 
identity  of  feeling,  and  of  swift  godlike  readiness  to 
help,  each  of  us  lives  alone.  Like  the  inhabitants  of 
the  islands  of  the  Greek  Archipelago,  we  are  able  to 
wave  signals  to  the  next  island,  and  sometimes  to  send 
a  boat  with  provisions  and  succour,  but  we  are  parted, 
•with  echoing  straits  between  us  thrown.'  Every  man, 
after  all,  lives  alone,  and  society  is  like  the  material 
things  round  about  us,  which  are  all  compressible, 
because  the  atoms  that  compose  them  are  not  inactual 
contact,  but  separated  by  slenderer  or  more  substantial 
films  of  isolating  air.  Thus  there  is  even  in  the 
sorrows  which  we  can  share  with  our  brethren,  and 
in  all  the  burdens  which  we  can  help  to  bear,  an 
element  which  cannot  be  imparted.  '  The  heart  knoweth 
its  own  bitterness',  and  neither  'stranger'  nor  other 
•intermeddleth*  with   the  deepest    fountains    of    'its 

joy* 

Then  again,  there  is  the  burden  of  responsibility 
which  can  be  shared  by  none.  A  dozen  soldiers  may 
be  turned  out  to  make  a  firing  party  to  shoot  the 
mutineer ,  and  no  man  knows  who  fired  the  shot,  but 
one  man  did  fire  it.  And  however  there  may  have 
been  companions,  it  was  his  rifle  that  carried  the 
bullet,  and  his  finger  that  pulled  the  trigger.  We  say, 
'The  woman  that  Thou  gavest  me  tempted  me,  and 
I  did  eat.'  Or  we  say, '  My  natural  appetites,  for  whicli 
I  am  not  responsible,  but  Thou- who  madest  me  art, 
drew  me  aside,  and  I  fell ' ,  or  we  may  say, '  It  was  not 
I ;  it  was  the  other  boy.  And  then  there  rises  up  in 
our  hearts  a  veiled  form,  and  from  its  majestic  lips 
eomes  '  Thou  art  the  man  * ;  and  our  whole  being  echoes 


176  GALATIANS  [ch.  vi. 

assGDt — Mea  culpa;  mea  maxima  culpa— ^My  fault,  my 
exceeding  great  fault.'    No  man  can  bear  that  burden. 

And  then,  closely  connected  with  responsibility  there 
is  another — the  burden  of  the  inevitable  consequences 
of  transgression,  not  only  away  yonder  in  the  future, 
■when  all  human  bonds  of  companionship  shall  be 
broken,  and  each  man  shall  '  give  account  of  himself 
to  God,'  but  here  and  now  ;  as  in  the  immediate  context 
the-Apostle  tells  us,  'Whatsoever  a  man  soweth,  that 
shall  he  also  reap.'  The  effects  of  our  evil  deeds  come 
back  to  roost;  and  they  never  make  a  mistake  as  to 
where  they  should  alight.  If  I  have  sown,  I,  and  no 
one  else,  will  gather.  No  sympathy  will  prevent  to- 
morrow's headache  after  to-night's  debauch, and  nothing 
that  anybody  can  do  will  turn  the  sleuth-hounds  off 
the  scent.  Though  they  may  be  slow-footed,  they  have 
sure  noses  and  deep-mouthed  fangs.  *  If  thou  be  wise 
thou  shalt  be  wise  for  thyself,  and  if  thou  scornest 
thou  alone  shalt  bear  it.*  So  there  are  burdens  which 
can,  and  burdens  which  cannot,  be  borne. 

II.  Jesus  Christ  is  the  Burden-bearer  for  both  sorts 
of  burdens. 

•Bear  ye  one  another's  burdens,  and  so  fulfil  the  law 
of  Christ,'  not  only  as  spoken  by  His  lips,  but  as  set 
forth  in  the  pattern  of  His  life.  We  have,  then,  to  turn 
to  Him,  and  think  of  Him  as  Burden-bearer  in  even 
a  deeper  sense  than  the  psalmist  had  discerned,  who 
magnified  God  as  '  He  who  daily  beareth  our  burdens.' 

Christ  is  the  Burden-bearer  of  our  sin.  'The  Lord 
hath  laid '—or  made  to  meet— '  upon  Him  the  miquity 
of  us  all.'  The  Baptist  pointed  his  lean,  ascetic  finger 
at  the  young  Jesus,  and  said,  'Behold  the  Lamb  of 
God  which  beareth'— and  beareth  away— '  the  sin  of 
the  world.*    How  heavy  the  load,  how  real  its  pressure, 


Ts.  2-5]  BURDEN-BEARING  177 

let  Gethsemane  witness,  when  He  clung  to  human  com- 
panionship with  the  unutterably  solemn  and  plaintive 
words, '  My  soul  is  exceeding  sorrowful  even  unto  death. 
Tarry  ye  here  and  watch  with  Me.'  He  bore  the  burden 
of  the  world's  sin. 

Jesus  Christ  is  the  bearer  of  the  burden  of  the  con- 
sequences of  sin,  not  only  inasmuch  as,  in  His  sinless 
humanity.  He  knew  by  sympathy  the  weight  of  the 
world's  sin,  but  because  in  that  same  humanity,  by 
identification  of  Himself  with  us,  deeper  and  more 
wonderful  than  our  plummets  have  any  line  long 
enough  to  sound  the  abysses  of.  He  took  the  cup  of 
bitterness  which  our  sins  have  mixed,  and  drank  it  all 
when  He  said,  *My  God  I  My  God!  Why  hast  Thou 
forsaken  Me?'  Consequences  still  remain  :  thank  God 
that  they  do !  '  Thou  wast  a  God  that  forgavest  them, 
and  Thou  didst  inflict  retribution  on  their  inventions.' 
So  the  outward,  the  present,  the  temporal  consequences 
of  transgression  arc  left  standing  in  all  their  power,  in 
order  that  transgressors  may  thereby  be  scourged  from 
their  evil,  and  led  to  forsake  the  thing  that  has  wrought 
them  such  havoc.  But  the  ultimate  consequence,  the 
deepest  of  all,  separation  from  God,  has  been  borne  by 
Christ,  and  need  never  be  borne  by  us. 

I  suppose  I  need  not  dwell  on  the  other  aspects  of 
this  burden-bearing  of  our  Lord,  how  that  He,  in  a  very 
deep  and  real  sense,  takes  upon  Himself  the  sorrows 
which  we  bear  in  union  with,  and  faith  on.  Him.  For 
then  the  griefs  that  still  come  to  us,  when  so  borne, 
are  transmitted  into  '  light  affliction  which  is  but  for 
a  moment.'  'In  all  their  afflictions  He  was  afflicted.' 
Oh,  brethren !  you  with  sad  hearts,  you  with  lonely 
lives,  you  with  carking  cares,  you  with  pressing,  heavy 
duties,  cast  your  burden  on  the  Christ,  and  He  '  will 

M 


178  GALATIANS  [ch.  vi. 

eustain  you/  and  sorrows  borne  in  union  with  Him  will 
change  their  character,  and  the  very  cross  shall  bo 
wreathed  in  flowers. 

Jesus  bears  the  burden  of  that  solemn  solitude  which 
our  personal  being  lays  upon  us  all.  The  rest  of  us 
stand  round,  and,  as  I  said,  hoist  signals  of  sympathy, 
and  sometimes  can  stretch  a  brotherly  hand  out  and 
grasp  the  sufferer's  hand.  But  their  help  comes  from 
without ;  Christ  comes  in,  and  dwells  in  our  hearts,  and 
makes  us  no  longer  alone  in  the  depths  of  our  being, 
which  He  fills  with  the  effulgence  and  peace  of  His 
companionship.  And  so  for  sin,  for  guilt,  for  re- 
sponsibility, for  sorrow,  for  holiness,  Christ  bears 
our  burdens. 

\  Yes !  And  when  He  lalces  ours  on  His  shoulders,  H6 
puts  His  on  ours.  '  My  yoke  is  easy,  and  My  burden  is 
light.'  As  the  old  mystics  used  to  say,  Christ's  burden 
carries  him  that  carries  it.  It  may  add  a  little  weight, 
but  it  gives  power  to  soar,  and  it  gives  power  to  pro- 
gress. It  is  like  the  wings  of  a  bird,  it  is  like  the  sails 
of  a  ship. 

III.  Lastly,  Christ's  carrying  our  burdens  binds  us  to 
carry  our  brother  s  I 

*So  fulfil  the  law  of  Christ.'  There  is  a  very  biting 
sarcasm,  and,  as  I  said  about  another  matter,  a  grave 
irony  in  Paul's  use  of  that  word  'la.w'  here.  For  the 
whole  of  this  Epistle  has  been  directed  against  the 
Judaising  teachers  who  were  desirous  of  cramming 
Jewish  law  down  Galatian  throats,  and  is  addressed  to 
their  victims  in  the  Galatian  churches  who  had  fallen 
into  the  trap.  Paul  turns  round  on  them  here,  and 
says,  'You  want  law,  do  you?  Well,  if  you  will  have 
it,  here  it  is— t^e  law  of  Christ.'  Christ's  life  is  our  law. 
Practical  Christianity  is  doing  what  Christ  did.    The 


vs.  2-5]  BURDEN-BEARING  179 

Cross  is  not  only  the  ground  of  our  hope,  but  the 
pattern  of  our  conduct. 

And,  says  Paul  in  effect,  the  example  of  Jesus  Christ, 
in  all  its  sweep,  and  in  all  the  depth  of  it,  is  the  only 
motive  by  which  this  injunction  that  I  am  giving  you 
will  ever  be  fulfilled.  '  Bear  ye  one  another's  burdens.' 
You  will  never  do  that  unless  you  have  Christ  as  the 
ground  of  your  hope,  and  His  great  sacrifice  as  the 
example  for  your  conduct.  For  the  hindrance  that 
prevents  sympathy  is  self-absorption ;  and  that  natural 
selfishness  which  is  in  us  all  will  never  be  exorcised 
and  banished  from  us  thoroughly,  so  as  that  we  shall 
be  awake  to  all  the  obligations  to  bear  our  brother's 
burdens,  unless  Christ  has  dethroned  self,  and  is  the 
Lord  of  our  inmost  spirits. 

I  rejoice  as  much  as  any  man  in  the  largely  increased 
sense  of  mutual  responsibility  and  obligation  of  mutual 
aid,  which  is  sweetening  society  by  degrees  amongst  us 
to-day,  but  I  believe  that  no  Socialistic  or  other  schemes 
for  the  regeneration  of  society  which  are  not  based  on 
the  Incarnation  and  Sacrifice  of  Jesus  Christ  will  live 
and  grow.  There  is  but  one  power  that  will  cast  out 
natural  selfishness,  and  that  is  love  to  Christ,  appre- 
hending His  Cross  as  the  great  example  to  which  our 
lives  are  to  be  conformed.  I  believe  that  the  growing 
sense  of  brotherhood  amongst  us,  even  where  it  is  not 
consciously  connected  with  any  faith  in  Christianity, 
is,  to  a  very  large  extent,  the  result  of  the  diffusion 
through  society  of  the  spirit  of  Christianity,  even 
where  its  body  is  rejected.  Thank  God,  the  river 
of  the  water  of  life  can  percolate  through  many  a  mile 
of  soil,  and  reach  the  roots  of  trees  far  away,  in  the 
pastures  of  the  wilderness,  that  know  not  whence  the 
refreshing  moisture  has  come.     But  on  the  wide  scale 


180  GALATIANS  [ch.vi. 

be  sure  of  this :  it  is  the  law  of  Christ  that  will  fight 
and  conquer  the  natural  selfishness  which  makes  bear- 
ing our  brother's  burdens  an  impossibility  for  men. 
Only,  Christian  people !  let  us  take  care  that  we  are  not 
robbed  of  our  prerogative  of  being  foremost  in  all  such 
things,  by  men  whose  zeal  has  a  less  heavenly  source 
than  ours  ought  to  have.  Depend  upon  it,  heresy  has 
less  power  to  arrest  the  progress  of  the  Church  thar\ 
the  selfish  lives  of  Christian  professors. 

So,  dear  friends,  let  us  see  to  it  that  we  first  of  all 
cast  our  own  burdens  on  the  Christ  who  is  able  to  bear 
them  all,  whatever  they  are.  And  then  let  us,  with 
lightened  hearts  and  shoulders,  make  our  own  the 
heavy  burdens  of  sin,  of  sorrow,  of  care,  of  guilt, 
of  consequences,  of  responsibility,  which  are  crushing 
down  many  that  are  weary  and  heavy  laden.  For  be 
sure  of  this,  if  we  do  not  bear  our  brother's  burdens, 
the  load  that  we  thought  we  had  cast  on  Christ  will 
roll  back  upon  ourselves;  He  is  able  to  bear  both  us 
and  our  burdens,  if  we  will  let  Him,  and  if  we  will  fulfil 
that  law^  of  Christ  which  was  illustrated  in  all  His  life, 
•  Who,  though  He  was  rich,  yet  for  our  sakes  became 
poor,'  and  was  written  large  in  letters  of  blood  upon 
that  Cross  where  there  was  •  laid  on  Him  the  iniquity 
of  us  all.' 


DOING  GOOD  TO  ALL 

'As  we  have  therefore  opportunity,  let  us  do  good  unto  all  .  .  .'—Gal.  tL  1(X 

•As  we  have  therefore'— that  points  a  finger  back- 
wards to  what  has  gone  before.  The  Apostle  has  been 
exhorting  to  unwearied  well-doing,  on  the  ground  of 


v.io]  DOmG  GOOD  TO  ALL  181 

the  certain  coming  of  the  harvest  season.  Now,  there 
is  a  double  link  of  connection  between  the  preceding 
words  and  our  text;  for  ' do  good'  looks  back  to  'well- 
doing,' and  the  word  rendered  'opportunity'  is  tho 
same  as  that  rendered  '  season.'  So,  then,  two  thoughts 
arise — •  well-doing'  includes  doing  good  to  others,  and 
is  not  complete  unless  it  does.  The  future,  on  the 
whole,  is  the  season  of  reaping;  the  present  life  on 
the  whole  is  the  season  of  sowing;  and  while  life  as 
a  whole  is  the  seed-time,  in  detail  it  is  full  of  oppor- 
tunities. Openings  which  make  certain  good  deeds 
possible,  and  which  therefore  impose  upon  us  the  obli- 
gation to  do  them.  If  we  were  in  the  habit  of  looking 
on  life  mainly  as  a  series  of  opportunities  for  well- 
doing, how  different  it  would  be ;  and  how  different  we 
should  be ! 

Now,  this  injunction  is  seen  to  be  reasonable  by 
every  man,  whether  he  obeys  it  or  not.  It  is  a 
commonplace  of  morality,  which  finds  assent  in  all 
consciences,  however  little  it  may  mould  lives.  But  I 
wish  to  give  it  a  particular  application,  and  to  try  to 
enforce  its  bearing  upon  Christian  missionary  work. 
And  the  thought  that  I  would  suggest  is  just  this,  that 
no  Christian  man  discharges  that  elementary  obliga- 
tion of  plain  morality,  if  he  is  indifferent  to  this  great 
enterprise.  *  As  we  have  ah  opportunity,  let  us  do  good 
to  all.*  That  is  the  broad  principle,  and  one  applica- 
tion is  the  duty  of  Christian  men  to  diffuse  the  Gospel 
throughout  the  world. 

I.  Let  me  ask  you  to  look  at-the  obligation  that  is 
thus  suggested. 

As  I  have  said,  well-doing  is  the  wider,  and  doing 
good  to  others  the  narrower,  expression.  The  one 
covers  the  whole  ground  of  virtue,  the  other  declarer 


182  GALATIANS  [oh.vi 

that  virtue  which  Is  self-regarding,  the  culture  which 
is  mainly  occupied  with  self,  is  lame  and  imperfect, 
and  there  is  a  great  gap  in  it,  as  if  some  cantle  had 
been  cut  out  of  the  silver  disc  of  the  moon.  It  is  only 
fuU-brbed  when  in  well-doing,  and  as  a  very  large  con- 
stituent element  of  it,  there  is  included  the  doing  good 
to  others.  That  is  too  plain  to  need  to  be  stated.  We 
hear  a  great  deal  to-day  about  altruism.  Well,  Christi- 
anity preaches  that  more  emphatically  than  any  other 
system  of  thought,  morals,  or  religion  does.  And 
Christianity  brings  the  mightiest  motives  for  it,  and 
imparts  the  power  by  which  obedience  to  that  great 
law  that  every  mans  conscience  responds  to  is  made 
possible. 

But  whilst  thus  we  recognise  as  a  dictate  of  element- 
ary morality  that  well-doing  must  necessarily  include 
doing  good  to  others,  and  feel,  as  I  suppose  we  all  do 
feel,  when  we  are  true  to  our  deepest  convictions,  that 
possessions  of  all  sorts,  material,  mental,  and  all  others, 
are  given  to  us  in  stewardship,  and  not  in  absolute 
ownership,  in  order  that  God's  grace  in  its  various 
forms  may  fructify  through  us  to  all,  my  present  point 
is  that,  if  that  is  recognised  as  being  what  it  is,  an 
elementary  dictate  of  morality  enforced  by  men's 
relationships  to  one  another,  and  sealed  by  their  own 
consciences,  there  is  no  getting  away  from  the  obliga- 
tion upon  all  Christian  men  which  it  draws  after  it,  of 
each  taking  his  share  in  the  great  work  of  imparting 
the  gospel  to  the  whole  world. 

For  that  gospel  is  our  highest  good,  the  best  thing 
that  we  can  carry  to  anybody.  We  many  of  us 
recognise  the  obligation  that  is  devolved  upon  us  by 
the  possession  of  wealth,  to  use  it  for  others  as  well  as 
for  ourselves.    We  recognise,  many  of  us,  the  obliga- 


V.  10]  DOING  GOOD  TO  ALL  183 

tion  that  is  devolved  upon  us  by  the  possession  of 
knowledge,  to  impart  it  to  others  as  well  as  ourselves. 
We  are  willing  to  give  of  our  substance,  of  our  time, 
of  our  effort,  to  impart  much  that  we  have.  But  some 
of  us  seem  to  draw  a  line  at  the  highest  good  that  we 
have,  and  whilst  responding  to  all  sorts  of  charitable 
and  beneficent  appeals  made  to  us,  and  using  out 
faculties  often  for  the  good  of  other  people,  we  take 
no  share  and  no  interest  in  communicating  the  highest 
of  all  goods,  the  good  which  comes  to  the  man  in 
whose  heart  Christ  rests.  It  is  our  highest  good, 
because  it  deals  with  our  deepest  needs,  and  lifts  us  to 
the  loftiest  position.  The  gospel  brings  our  highest 
good,  because  it  brings  eternal  good,  whilst  all  other 
benefits  fade  and  pass,  and  are  left  behind  with  life 
and  the  dead  flesh.  It  is  our  highest  good,  because  if 
that  great  message  of  salvation  is  received  into  a 
heart,  or  moulds  the  life  of  a  nation,  it  will  bring  after 
it,  as  its  ministers  and  results,  all  manner  of  material 
and  lesser  benefit.  And  so,  giving  Christ  we  give  our 
best,  and  giving  Christ  we  give  the  highest  gift  that  9. 
weary  world  can  receive. 

Remember,  too,  that  the  impartation  of  this  highest 
good  is  one  of  the  main  reasons  why  we  ourselves 
possess  it.  Jesus  Christ  can  redeem  the  world  alone, 
but  it  cannot  become  a  redeemed  world  without  the 
help  of  His  servants.  He  needs  us  in  order  to  carry 
into  all  humanity  the  energies  that  He  brought  into 
the  midst  of  mankind  by  His  Incarnation  and  Sacrifice  j 
and  the  cradle  of  Bethlehem  and  the  Cross  of  Cavalry 
are  not  sufficient  for  the  accomplishment  of  the  pur- 
pose for  which  they  respectively  came  to  pass,  without 
the  intervention  and  ministry  of  Christian  people.  It 
was  for  this  end  amongst  others,  that  each  of  us  who 


184  GALATIANS  [en.  vi. 

bavo  receivccj  that  great  gift  into  our  hearts  have  been 
enriched  by  it.  The  river  is  fed  from  the  fountains  of 
the  hills,  in  order  that  it  may  carry  verdure  and  life 
whithersoever  it  goes.  And  you  and  I  have  been 
brought  to  the  Cross  of  Christ,  and  made  His  disciples, 
not  only  in  order  that  we  ourselves  might  be  blessed 
and  quickened  by  the  gift  unspeakable,  but  in  oi*der 
that  through  us  it  may  be  communicated,  just  as  each 
particle  when  leavened  in  the  mass  of  the  dough  com- 
municates its  energy  to  its  adjacent  particle  until  tho 
whole  is  leavened. 

I  am  afraid  that  indifference  to  tho  communication 
of  the  highest  good,  which  marks  sadly  too  many 
Christian  professors  in  all  ages,  and  in  this  age,  is  a 
suspicious  indication  of  a  very  slight  realisation  of  tho 
good  for  themselves.  Luther  said  that  justification 
was  tho  article  of  a  standing  or  a  falling  cliurch.  That 
may  be  true  in  the  region  of  theology,  but  in  the  region 
of  practical  life  I  do  not  know  that  you  will  find  a  test 
more  reliable  and  more  easy  of  application  than  this, 
Does  a  man  care  for  spreading  amongst  liis  fellows  tho 
gospel  that  he  himself  has  received?  If  he  does  not, 
let  him  ask  himself  whether,  in  any  real  sense,  ho  has 
it.  'Well-doing'  includes  doing  good  to  others,  and 
the  possession  of  Christ  will  make  it  certain  that  we 
shall  impart  Him. 

II.  Notice  the  bearing  of  this  elementary  injunction 
upon  the  scope  of  the  obligation. 

'Let  us  do  good  to  all  men.'  It  was  Christianity  that 
invented  the  word  'humanity*;  either  in  its  meaning 
of  the  aggregate  of  men  or  its  meaning  of  a  gracious 
attitude  towards  them.  And  it  invented  the  word 
because  it  revealed  the  thing  on  which  it  rests. 
•Brotherhood'  is  the  sequel  of  'Fatherhood/  and  the 


T.  107  DOING  GOOD  TO  ALL  185 

conception  of  mankind,  beneath  all  diversities  of  race 
and  culture  and  the  like,  as  being  an  organic  whole, 
knit  together  by  a  thousand  mystical  bands,  and  each 
atom  of  which  has  connection  with,  and  obligations  to, 
every  other — that  is  a  product  of  Christianity,  how- 
ever it  may  have  been  in  subsequent  ages  divorced 
from  a  recognition  of  its  source.  So,  then,  the  gospel 
rises  above  all  the  narrow  distinctions  which  call  them- 
selves patriotism  and  are  parochial,  and  it  says  that 
there  is  'neither  circumcision  nor  uncircumcision,  Jew 
nor  Greek,  Barbarian,  Scythian,  bond  nor  free,'  but  all 
are  one.  Get  high  enough  up  upon  the  hill,  and  the 
hedges  between  the  fields  are  barely  perceptible.  Live 
on  the  elevation  to  which  the  Gospel  of  Jesus  Christ 
lifts  men,  and  you  look  down  upon  a  great  prairie, 
without  a  fence  or  a  ditch  or  a  division.  So  my  text 
comes  with  profound  significance,  *  Let  us  do  good  to 
all,'  because  all  are  included  in  the  sweep  of  that  great 
purpose  of  love,  and  in  the  redeeming  possibilities  of 
that  great  death  on  the  Cross.  Christ  has  swept  the 
compass,  if  I  may  say  so,  of  His  love  and  work  all 
round  humanity ;  and  are  we  to  extend  our  sympathies 
or  our  efforts  less  widely?  The  circle  includes  the 
world ;  our  sympathies  should  be  as  wide  as  the  circle 
that  Christ  has  drawn. 

Let  me  remind  you,  too,  that  only  such  a  world-wide 
communication  of  the  highest  good  that  has  blessed 
ourselves  will  correspond  to  the  proved  power  of  that 
Gospel  which  treats  as  of  no  moment  diversities  that 
are  superficial,  and  can  grapple  with  and  overcome, 
and  bind  to  itself  as  a  crown  of  glory,  every  variety  of 
character,  of  culture,  of  circumstance,  claiming  for  its 
own  all  races,  and  proving  itself  able  to  lift  them  all. 
*  The  Bread  of  God  which  came  down  from  heaven  *  is 


186  GALATIANS  [en.  vi. 

an  exotic  everywhere,  because  it  cam*  down  frora 
heaven,  but  it  can  grow  in  all  soils,  and  it  can  bring 
forth  fruit  unto  eternal  life  everywhere  amongst  man- 
kind.   So  '  let  us  do  good  to  all.' 

And  then  wo  are  met  by  the  old  objection,  'The  eyes 
of  a  fool  are  in  the  ends  of  the  earth.  Keep  your 
work  for  home,  that  wants  it.'  Well !  I  am  perfectly 
ready  to  admit  that  in  Christian  work,  as  in  all  others, 
there  must  be  division  of  labour,  and  that  one  man's 
tastes  and  inclinations  will  lead  him  to  one  sphere  and 
one  form  of  it;  and  another  man's  to  another;  and  I 
am  quite  ready,  not  to  admit,  but  strongly  to  in^3ist, 
that,  whatever  happens,  home  is  not  to  bo  neglected. 
•  All  men  '  includes  the  slums  in  England  as  well  as  the 
savages  in  Africa,  and  it  is  no  excuse  for  neglecting 
either  of  these  departments  that  we  are  trying  to  do 
Bomcthing  in  the  other.  But  it  is  not  uncharitable  to 
say  that  the  objection  to  which  I  am  referring  is  most 
often  made  by  one  or  other  of  two  classes,  either  by 
people  who  do  not  care  about  the  Gospel,  nor  recognise 
the  'good '  of  it  at  all,  or  by  people  who  are  ingenious 
in  finding  excuses  for  not  doing  the  duty  to  which  they 
are  at  the  moment  summoned.  The  people  that  do 
the  one  are  the  people  that  do  the  other.  Where  do 
you  get  your  money  from  for  home  work?  Mainly 
from  the  Christian  Churches.  Who  is  it  that  keeps 
up  missionary  work  abroad?  Mainly  the  Christian 
Churches.  There  is  a  vast  deal  of  unreality  in  that 
objection.  Just  think  of  the  disproportion  between 
the  embarrassment  of  riches  in  our  Christian  appli- 
ances here  in  England  and  the  destitution  in  these 
distant  lands.  Hero  the  ships  are  crammed  into  a 
dock,  close  up  against  one  another,  rubbing  their  yards 
upon  each  other;  and  away  out  yonder  on  the  waters 


v.io]  DOING  GOOD  TO  ALL  187 

there  are  leagues  of  loneliness,  where  never  a  sail  is 
seen.  Here,  at  home,  we  are  drenched  with  Christian 
teaching,  and  the  Churches  are  competing  with  each 
other,  often  like  rival  tradespeople  for  their  customers; 
and  away  out  yonder  a  man  to  half  a  million  is  con- 
sidered a  fair  allowance.    *  Let  us  do  good  to  all.' 

III.  Lastly,  note  the  bearing  of  this  jplementary  pre- 
cept on  the  occasions  that  rise  for  the  discharge  of  the 
duty. 

*As  we  have  opportunity.*  As  I  have  already  said, 
the  Christian  way  to  look  at  our  circumstances  is  to 
regard  them  as  openings  for  the  exercise  of  Christian 
virtue,  and  therefore  summonses  to  its  discharge.  And 
if  we  regarded  our  own  position  individually,  so  we 
should  find  that  there  were  many,  many  doors  that 
had  long  been  opened,  into  which  we  had  been  too 
blind  or  too  lazy,  or  too  selfishly  absorbed  in  our  own 
concerns,  to  enter.  The  neglected  opportunities,  the 
beckoning  doors  whose  thresholds  we  have  never 
crossed,  the  good  that  we  might  have  done  and  have 
not  done  —  these  are  as  weighty  to  sink  us  as  the 
positive  sins,  the  opportunities  for  which  have  appealed 
to  our  worse  selves. 

But  I  desire  to  say  a  word,  not  only  about  the  oppor- 
tunities offered  to  us  individually,  but  about  those 
offered  to  England  for  this  great  enterprise.  The  pro- 
phet of  old  represented  the  proud  Assyrian  conqueror 
as  boasting,  'My  hand  hath  gathered  as  a  nest  the 
riches  of  the  peoples  .  .  .  and  there  was  none  that 
moved  the  wing,  or  opened  the  mouth,  or  peeped.'  It 
might  be  the  motto  of  England  to-day.  It  is  not  for 
nothing  that  we  and  our  brethren  across  the  Atlantic, 
the  inheritors  of  the  same  faith  and  morals  and 
literature,  and  speaking  the  same  tongue,  have  had 


188  GALATIANS  [ch.vi. 

given  to  us  tbe  wide  dominion  that  we  possess.  I 
know  that  England  has  not  climbed  to  her  place  with- 
out many  a  crime,  and  that  in  her  'skirts  is  found  the 
blood  of  poor  innocents/  but  yet  we  have  that  con- 
nection, for  good  or  for  evil,  with  subject  races  all 
over  the  earth.  And  I  ask  whether  or  not  that  is  an 
opportunity  that  the  Christian  Church  is  bound  to 
make  use  of.  What  have  we  been  intrusted  with  it 
for  ?  Commerce,  dominion,  the  impartation  of  Western 
knowledge,  literature,  laws?  Yes!  Is  that  all?  Are 
you  to  send  shirting  and  not  the  Gospel?  Are  you  to 
send  muskets  that  will  burst,  and  gin  that  is  poison, 
and  not  Christianity?  Are  you  to  send  Shakespeare, 
and  Milton,  and  modern  science,  and  Herbert  Spencer, 
and  not  Evangelists  and  the  Gospels?  Are  you  to 
send  the  code  of  English  law  and  not  Christ's  law  of 
love  ?  Are  you  to  send  godless  Englishmen, '  through 
whom  the  name  of  God  is  blasphemed  amongst  the 
Gentiles,'  and  are  you  not  to  send  missionaries  of  tho 
Cross?  A  Brahmin  once  said  to  a  missionary,  'Look 
here!  Your  Book  is  a  good  Book.  If  you  were  as 
good  as  your  Book  you  would  make  India  Christian  in 
ten  years.' 

Brethren !  the  European  world  to-day  is  fighting  and 
scrambling  over  what  it  calls  the  unclaimed  corners  of 
the  world;  looking  upon  all  lands  that  are  uncivilised 
by  Western  civilisation  either  as  markets,  or  as  parts 
of  their  empire.  Is  there  no  other  way  of  looking  at 
the  heathen  world  than  that?  IIow  did  Christ  look  at 
it?  He  was  moved  when  He  saw  the  multitudes  as 
•sheep  having  no  shepherd.'  Oh!  if  Christian  men,  as 
members  of  this  nation,  would  rise  to  the  height  of 
Christ's  place  of  vision,  and  would  look  at  the  world 
with  His  eyes,  what  a  difference  it  would  make!    I 


v.io]  THE  OWNER'S  BRAND  189 

appeal  to  you,  Christian  men  and  women,  as  members 
of  this  nation,  and  therefore  responsible,  though  it 
may  be  infinitesimally,  for  what  this  nation  is  doing 
in  the  distant  corners  of  the  world,  and  urge  on  you 
that  you  are  bound,  so  far  as  your  influence  goes,  to 
protest  against  the  way  of  looking  at  these  heathen 
lands  as  existing  to  be  exploited  for  the  material 
benefit  of  these  Western  Powers.  You  are  bound  to 
lend  your  voice,  however  weak  it  may  be,  to  the 
protests  against  the  savage  treatment  of  native  races 
— against  the  drenching  of  China  with  narcotics,  and 
Africa  with  rum  ;  to  try  to  look  at  the  world  as  Christ 
looked  at  it,  to  rise  to  the  height  of  that  great  vision 
which  regards  all  men  as  having  been  in  His  heart 
when  He  died  on  the  Cross,  and  refuses  to  recognise 
in  this  great  work  '  Barbarian,  Scythian,  bond  or  free.' 
We  have  awful  responsibilities;  the  world  is  open  to 
us.  We  have  the  highest  good.  How  shall  we  obey 
this  elementary  principle  of  our  text,  unless  we  help  as 
we  can  in  spreading  Christ's  reign  ?  Blessed  shall  we 
be  if,  and  only  if,  we  fill  the  seed-time  with  delightful 
work,  and  remember  that  well-doing  is  imperfect  un- 
less it  includes  doing  good  to  others,  and  that  the  best 
good  we  can  do  is  to  impart  the  Unspeakable  Gift  to 
the  men  that  need  it. 


THE  OWNER'S  BRAND 

*I  boar  in  my  body  tbo  marks  of  tbc  Lord  Jesus.'—Oit.  vl.  17. 

The  reference  in  these  words  is  probably  to  the  cruel 
custom  of  branding  slaves  as  we  do  cattle,  with  initials 
or  signs,  to  show  their  ownership.    It  is  true  that  in 


190  GALATIANS  [en.  vl 

old  times  criminals,  and  certain  classes  of  Temple  ser- 
vants, and  sometimes  soldiers,  were  also  so  marked, 
but  it  is  most  in  accordance  with  the  Apostle's  way  of 
thinking  that  he  here  has  reference  to  the  first  class, 
and  would  represent  himself  as  the  slave  of  Jesus 
Christ,  designated  as  His  by  the  scars  and  weaknesses 
which  were  the  consequences  of  his  apostolic  zeal. 
Imprisonment,  beating  by  the  Jewish  rod,  shipwrecks, 
fastings,  weariness,  perils,  persecutions,  all  these  he 
sums  up  in  another  place  as  being  the  tokens  by  which 
he  was  approved  as  an  apostle  of  Jesus  Christ.  And 
here  he,  no  doubt,  has  the  same  thought  in  his  mind, 
that  his  bodily  weakness,  which  was  the  direct  issue 
of  his  apostolic  work,  showed  that  he  was  Christ's. 
The  painful  infirmity  under  which,  as  we  learn,  he 
was  more  especially  suffering,  about  the  time  of  writ- 
ing this  letter,  may  also  have  been  in  his  mind. 

All  through  this  Epistle  he  has  been  thundering  and 
lightning  against  the  disputers  of  this  apostolic 
authority.  And  now  at  last  he  softens,  and  as  it 
were,  bares  his  thin  arm,  his  scarred  bosom,  and  bids 
these  contumacious  Galatians  look  upon  them,  and 
learn  that  he  has  a  right  to  speak  as  the  representative 
and  messenger  of  the  Lord  Jesus. 

So  we  have  here  two  or  three  points,  I  think,  worth 
considering.  First,  think  for  a  moment  of  the  slave  of 
Christ;  then  of  the  brands  which  mark  the  ownership; 
then  of  the  glory  in  the  servitude  and  the  sign ;  and 
then  of  the  immunity  from  human  disturbances  which 
that  service  gives.  'From  henceforth  let  no  man 
trouble  me.  I  bear  in  my  body  the  marks  of  the  Lord 
Jesus.' 

L  First,  then,  a  word  or  two  about  that  conception 
of  the  slave  of  Christ. 


V.  17]  THE  OWNER'S  BRAND  191 

It  is  a  pity  that  our  Bible  has  not  rendered  the 
title  which  Paul  ever  gives  himself  at  the  beginning 
of  his  letters,  by  that  simple  word  '  slave,'  instead  of 
the  feebler  one,  '  servant.*  For  what  he  means  when 
he  calls  himself  the  'servant  of  Jesus  Christ'  is  not 
that  he  bore  to  Christ  the  kind  of  relation  which  ser- 
vants among  us  bear  to  those  who  have  hired  and  paid 
them,  and  to  whom  they  have  come  under  obligations 
of  their  own  will  which  they  can  terminate  at  any 
moment  by  their  own  caprice  ;  but  that  he  was  in  the 
roughest  and  simplest  sense  of  the  word,  Christ's  slave. 

What  lies  in  that  metaphor?  Well,  it  is  the  most 
uncompromising  assertion  of  the  most  absolute 
authority  on  the  one  hand,  and  claim  of  unconditional 
submission  and  subjection  on  the  other. 

The  slave  belonged  to  his  master ;  the  master  could 
do  exactly  as  he  liked  with  him.  If  he  killed  him 
nobody  had  anything  to  say.  He  could  set  him  to 
any  task;  he  could  do  what  he  liked  with  any  little 
possession  or  property  that  the  slave  seemed  to  have. 
He  could  break  all  his  relationships,  and  separate  him 
from  wife  and  kindred. 

All  that  is  atrocious  and  blasphemous  when  it  is 
applied  to  the  relations  between  man  and  man,  but  it 
is  a  blessed  and  magnificent  truth  when  it  is  applied  to 
the  relations  between  a  man  and  Christ.  For  this 
Lord  has  absolute  authority  over  us,  and  He  can  do 
what  He  likes  with  everything  that  belongs  to  us ;  and 
we,  and  our  duties,  and  our  circumstances,  and  our 
relationships,  are  all  in  His  hands,  and  the  one  thing 
that  we  have  to  render  to  Him  is  utter,  absolute, 
unquestioning,  unhesitating,  unintermittent  and  un- 
reserved obedience  and  submission.  That  which  is 
abject  degradation  when  it  is  rendered  to  a  man,  that 


192  GALATIANS  [ch.vi. 

which  is  blasphemous  presumption  when  it  is  required 
by  a  man,  that  which  is  impossible,  in  its  deepest 
reality,  as  between  man  and  man,  is  possible,  is  blessed, 
is  joyful  and  strong  when  it  is  required  by,  and 
rendered  to,  Jesus  Christ.  We  are  His  slaves  if  wo 
have  any  living  relationship  to  Him  at  all.  Where, 
then,  in  the  Christian  life,  is  there  a  place  for  self-will ; 
where  a  place  for  self-indulgence  ;  where  for  murmur- 
ing or  reluctance;  where  for  the  assertion  of  any  rights 
of  my  own  as  against  that  Master?  We  owe  absolute 
obedience  and  submission  to  Jesus  Christ. 

And  what  does  the  metaphor  carry  as  to  the  basis 
on  which  this  authority  rests?  How  did  men  acquire 
slaves?  Chiefly  by  purchase.  The  abominations  of 
the  slave  market  are  a  blessed  metaphor  for  the  deep 
realities  of  the  Christian  life.  Christ  has  bought  you 
for  His  own.  The  only  thing  that  gives  a  human  soul 
the  right  to  have  any  true  authority  over  another 
human  soul  is  that  it  shall  have  yielded  itself  to  the 
soul  whom  it  would  control.  We  must  first  of  all  give 
Ourselves  away  before  we  have  the  right  to  possess, 
and  the  measure  in  which  we  give  ourselves  to  another 
is  the  measure  in  which  we  possess  another.  And  so 
Christ  our  Lord,  according  to  the  deep  words  of  one  of 
Paul's  letters,  'gives  Himself  for  us,  that  He  might 
purchase  unto  Himself  a.  people  for  His  possession.' 
'  Ye  are  not  your  own ;  ye  are  bought  with  a 
price.' 

Therefore  the  absolute  authority,  and  unconditional 
surrender  and  submission  which  are  the  very  essence 
of  the  Christian  life,  at  bottom  are  but  the  corre- 
sponding and  twofold  effects  of  one  thing,  and  that  is 
love.  For  there  is  no  possession  of  man  by  man  ex- 
cept that  which  is  based  on  love.     And  there  is  no 


T.17]  THE  OWNER'S  BRAND  193 

submission  of  man  to  man  worth  calling  so  except  that 
which  is  also  based  therein. 

•  Thou  hearts  alone  wouldst  move ; 
Thou  only  hearts  dost  love.' 

The  relation  in  both  its  parts,  on  the  side  of  the  Master 
and  on  the  side  of  the  captive  bondsman,  is  the  direct 
result  and  manifestation  of  that  love  which  knits 
them  together. 

Therefore  the  Christian  slavery,  with  its  abject  sub- 
mission, with  its  utter  surrender  and  suppression  of 
mine  own  will,  with  its  complete  yielding  up  of  self  to 
the  control  of  Jesus,  who  died  for  me ;  because  it  is 
based  upon  His  surrender  of  Himself  to  me,  and  in  its 
inmost  essence  it  is  the  operation  of  love,  is  therefore 
co-existent  with  the  noblest  freedom. 

This  great  Epistle  to  the  Galatians  is  the  trumpet 
call  and  clarion  proclamation  of  Christian  liberty.  The 
breath  of  freedom  blows  inspiringly  through  it  all. 
The  very  spirit  of  the  letter  is  gathered  up  in  one  of 
its  verses,  '  I  have  been  called  unto  liberty,'  and  in  its 
great  exhortation,  '  Stand  fast  therefore  in  the  liberty 
wherewith  Christ  hath  made  you  free.'  It  is  then 
sufficiently  remarkable  and  profoundly  significant  that 
in  this  very  letter,  which  thus  is  the  protest  of  the 
free  Christian  consciousness  against  all  limitations 
and  outward  restrictions,  there  should  be  this  most 
emphatic  declaration  that  the  liberty  of  the  Christian 
is  slavery  and  the  slavery  of  the  Christian  is  freedom. 
He  is  free  whose  will  coincides  with  his  outward  law. 
He  is  free  who  delights  to  do  what  he  must  do.  He  is 
free  whose  rule  is  love,  and  whose  Master  is  Incarnate 
Love.  *  If  the  Son  make  you  free,  ye  shall  be  free 
indeed.*    '  O  Lord,  truly  I  am  Thy  servant.  Thou  hast 

N 


194  GALATIANS  [ch.vi. 

loosed  my  bands.'  *  I  bear  in  my  body  *  the  charter  of 
my  liberty,  for  I  bear  in  my  body  the  '  brand  of  the 
Lord  Jesus.' 

II.  And  so  now  a  word  in  the  next  place  about  these 
marks  of  ownership. 

As  I  have  said,  the  Apostle  evidently  means  thereby 
distinctly  the  bodily  weaknesses,  and  possibly  diseases, 
which  were  the  direct  consequences  of  his  own  apos- 
tolic faithfulness  and  zeal.  He  considered  that  he 
proved  himself  to  be  a  minister  of  God  by  his  stripes, 
imprisonments,  fastings,  by  all  the  pains  and  sufferings 
and  their  permanent  consequences  in  an  enfeebled 
constitution,  which  he  bore  because  he  had  preached 
the  Cross  of  Christ.  He  knew  that  these  things  were 
the  result  of  his  faithful  ministry.  He  believed  that 
they  had  been  sent  by  no  blundering,  blind  fate ;  by 
no  mere  secondary  causes  ;  but  by  his  Master  Himself, 
whose  hand  had  held  the  iron  that  branded  into  the 
hissing  flesh  the  marks  of  His  ownership.  He  felt 
that  by  means  of  these  he  had  been  drawn  nearer  to 
his  Master,  and  the  ownership  had  been  made  more 
perfect.  And  so  in  a  rapture  of  contempt  of  pain,  this 
heroic  soul  looks  upon  even  bodily  weakness  and 
suffering  as  being  the  signs  that  he  belonged  to  Christ, 
and  the  means  of  that  possession  being  made  more 
perfect. 

Now,  what  is  all  that  to  us  Christian  people  who 
have  no  persecutions  to  endure,  and  none  of  whom  I 
am  afraid  have  ever  worked  hard  enough  for  Christ  to 
have  damaged  our  health  by  it?  Is  there  anything  in 
this  text  that  may  be  of  general  application  to  us  all  ? 
Yes !  I  think  so.  Every  Christian  man  or  woman 
ought  to  bear,  in  his  or  her  body,  in  a  plain,  literal 
sense,  the  tokens   that  he  or  she  belongs    to  Jesus 


T.17]  THE  OWNER'S  BRAND  195 

Christ.  You  ask  me  how  ?  •  If  thy  foot  or  thine  hand 
offend  thee,  cut  it  off,  and  cast  it  from  thee.' 

There  are  things  in  your  physical  nature  that  you 
have  to  suppress;  that  you  have  always  to  regulate 
and  coerce ;  that  you  have  sometimes  entirely  to  cast 
away  and  to  do  without,  if  you  mean  to  be  Jesus 
Christ's  at  all.  The  old  law  of  self-denial,  of  subduing 
the  animal  nature,  its  passions,  appetites,  desires,  is  as 
true  and  as  needful  to-day  as  it  ever  was ;  and  for  us 
all  it  is  essential  to  the  loftiness  and  purity  of  our 
Christian  life  that  our  animal  nature  and  our  fleshly 
constitution  should  be  well  kept  down  under  heel  and 
subdued.  As  Paul  himself  said  in  another  place,  *  I 
bring  under  my  body,  and  I  keep  it  in  subjection,  lest 
by  any  means  I  should  myself,  having  proclaimed  to 
others  the  laws  of  the  contest,  be  rejected  from  the 
prize.'  Oh,  you  Christian  men  and  women  !  if  you  are 
not  living  a  life  of  self-denial,  if  you  are  not  crucifying 
the  flesh,  with  its  affections  and  lusts,  if  you  are  not 
bearing  'about  in  the  body  the  dying  of  the  Lord 
Jesus,  that  the  life  also  of  Christ  may  be  manifested 
in  your  mortal  body,'  what  tokens  are  there  that  you 
are  Christ's  slaves  at  all  ? 

Then,  besides  this,  we  may  expand  the  thought  even 
further,  and  say  that,  in  a  very  real  sense,  all  the  pains 
and  sorrows  and  disappointments  and  afflictions  that 
mainly  touch  our  mortal  part  should  be  taken  by  us 
as,  and  made  by  us  to  be,  the  tokens  that  we  belong 
to  the  Master. 

But  it  is  not  only  in  limitations  and  restrictions  and 
self-denials  and  pains  that  Christ's  ownership  of  us 
ought  to  be  manifested  in  our  daily  lives,  and  so  by 
means  of  our  mortal  bodies,  but  if  there  be  in  our 
hearts  a  deep  indwelling  possession  of  the  grace  and 


196  GALATIANS  [ch.  vi. 

sweetness  of  Christ,  it  will  make  itself  visible,  ay  I  even 
in  our  faces,  and  'beauty  born  of  our  communion 
with  Him  'shall  pass  into'  and  glorify  even  rugged 
and  care-lined  countenances.  There  may  be,  and  there 
ought  to  be,  in  all  Christian  people,  manifestly  visible 
the  tokens  of  the  indwelling  serenity  of  the  indwelling 
Christ.  And  it  should  not  be  left  to  some  moment  of 
rapture  at  the  end  of  life,  for  men  to  look  upon  us,  to 
behold  our  faces,  '  as  it  had  been  the  face  of  an  angel,' 
but  by  our  daily  walk,  by  our  countenances  full  of  a 
removed  tranquillity,  and  a  joy  that  rises  from  within, 
men  ought  to  take  knowledge  of  us  that  we  have  been 
with  Jesus,  and  it  should  be  the  truth — I  bear  in  my 
body  the  tokens  of  His  possession. 

HI.  Now,  once  more  notice  the  glorying  in  the 
slavery  and  its  signs. 

•  I  bear,'  says  Paul ;  and  he  uses,  as  many  of  you  may 
know,  a  somewhat  remarkable  word,  which  does  not 
express  mere  bearing  in  the  sense  of  toleration  and 
patient  endurance,  although  that  is  much  ;  nor  mere 
bearing  in  the  sense  of  carrying,  but  implies  bearing 
with  a  certain  triumph  as  men  would  do  who,  coming 
back  victorious  from  conflict,  and  being  received  into 
the  city,  were  proud  to  show  their  scars,  the  honour- 
able signs  of  their  courage  and  constancy.  So,  with  a 
triumph  that  is  legitimate,  the  Apostle  solemnly  and 
proudly  bears  before  men  the  marks  of  the  Lord 
Jesus.  Just  as  he  says  in  another  place  : — 'Thanks  be 
unto  God,  which  always  leadeth  us  about  in  triumph 
in  Jesus  Christ.'  He  was  proud  of  being  dragged  at 
the  conqueror's  chariot  wheels,  chained  to  them  by  the 
cords  of  love ;  and  so  he  was  proud  of  being  the  slave 
of  Christ. 

It  is  a  degradation  to  a  man  to  yield  abject  submis- 


T.  17]  THE  OWNER'S  BRAND  197 

dion,  unconditional  service  to  another  man.  It  is  the 
highest  honour  of  our  natures  so  to  bow  before  that 
dear  Lord.  To  prostrate  ourselves  to  Him  is  to  lift 
ourselves  high  in  the  scale  of  being.  The  King's  ser- 
vant is  every  other  person's  master.  And  he  that  feels 
that  he  is  Christ's,  may  well  be,  not  proud  but  con- 
scious, of  the  dignity  of  belonging  to  such  a  Lord. 
The  monarch's  livery  is  a  sign  of  honour.  In  our  old 
Saxon  kingdom  the  king's  menials  were  the  first 
nobles.  So  it  is  with  us.  The  aristocracy  of  humanity 
are  the  slaves  of  Jesus  Christ. 

And  let  us  be  proud  of  the  marks  of  the  branding 
iron,  whether  they  come  in  the  shape  of  sorrows  and 
pains,  or  otherwise.  It  is  well  that  we  should  have  to 
carry  these.  It  is  blessed,  and  a  special  mark  of  the 
Master's  favour  that  He  should  think  it  worth  His 
while  to  mark  us  as  His  own,  by  any  sorrow  or  by 
any  pain.  Howsoever  hot  may  be  the  iron,  and  howso- 
ever deeply  it  may  be  pressed  by  His  firm,  steady, 
gentle  hand  upon  the  quivering  flesh  and  the  shrinking 
heart,  let  us  be  thankful  if  He,  even  by  it,  impresses  on 
us  the  manifest  tokens  of  ownership.  Oh,  brethren ! 
if  we  could  come  to  look  upon  sorrows  and  losses  with 
this  clear  recognition  of  their  source,  meaning  and 
purpose,  they  change  their  nature,  the  paradox  is 
fulfilled  that  we  do  '  gather  grapes  of  thorns  and  figs 
of  thistles.'  *  I  bear  in  my  body,'  with  a  solemn  tri- 
umph and  patient  hope,  'the  marks  of  the  Lord  Jesus.' 

IV.  And  now,  lastly,  the  immunity  from  any  dis- 
turbance which  men  can  bring,  which  these  marks,  and 
the  servitude  they  express,  secure. 

'From  henceforth  let  no  man  trouble  me.'  Paul 
claims  that  his  apostolic  authority,  having  been  estab- 
lished by  the  fact  of  his  sufferings  for  Christ,  should 


198  GALATIANS  [ch.vi. 

give  him  a  sacredness  in  their  eyes ;  that  henceforth 
there  should  be  no  rebellion  against  his  teaching  and 
his  word.  We  may  expand  the  thought  to  apply  more 
to  ourselves,  and  say  that,  in  the  measure  in  which  we 
belong  to  Christ,  and  bear  the  marks  of  His  possession 
of  us,  in  that  measure  are  we  free  from  the  disturbance 
of  earthly  influences  and  of  human  voices ;  and  from 
all  the  other  sources  of  care  and  trouble,  of  perturba- 
tion and  annoyance,  which  harass  and  vex  other  men's 
spirits.  '  Ye  are  bought  with  a  price,'  says  Paul  else- 
where. •  Be  not  the  servants  of  men.'  Christ  is  your 
Master;  do  not  let  men  trouble  you.  Take  your 
orders  from  Him;  let  men  rave  as  they  like.  Be 
content  to  be  approved  by  Him ;  let  men  think  of  you 
as  they  please.  The  Master's  smile  is  life,  the  Master's 
frown  is  death  to  the  slave;  what  matters  it  what 
other  people  may  say?  *He  that  judgeth  me  is  the 
Lord.'  So  keep  yourselves  above  the  cackle  of  '  public 
opinion';  do  not  let  your  creed  be  crammed  down 
your  throats  even  by  a  consensus  of  however  vener- 
able and  grave  human  teachers.  Take  your  directions 
from  your  Master,  and  pay  no  heed  to  other  voices  if 
they  would  command.  Live  to  please  Him,  and  do 
not  care  what  other  people  think.  You  are  Christ's 
servant ;  *  let  no  man  trouble '  you. 

And  so  it  should  be  about  all  the  distractions  and 
petty  annoyances  that  disturb  human  life  and  harass 
our  hearts.  A  very  little  breath  of  wind  will  ruffle  all 
the  surface  of  a  shallow  pond,  though  it  would  sweep 
across  the  deep  sea  and  produce  no  effect.  Deepen 
your  natures  by  close  union  with  Christ,  and  absolute 
submission  to  Him,  and  there  will  be  a  great  calm  in 
them,  and  cares  and  sorrows,  and  all  the  external 
sources  of  anxiety,  far  away,  down  there  beneath  your 


f.l7]  THE  OWNER'S  BRAND  199 

feet,  will  *  show  scarce  so  gross  as  beetles,'  whilst  you 
stand  upon  the  high  cliff  and  look  down  upon  them 
all.  '  From  henceforth  no  man  shall  trouble  me.'  •  I 
bear  in  my  body  the  marks  of  the  Lord  Jesus.' 

My  brother !  Whose  marks  do  you  bear  ?  There  are 
only  two  masters.  If  an  eye  that  could  see  things  as 
they  are,  were  to  go  through  this  congregation,  whose 
initials  would  it  discern  in  your  faces?  There  are 
some  of  us,  I  have  no  doubt,  who  in  a  very  horrid 
sense  bear  in  our  bodies  the  marks  of  the  idol  that  we 
worship.  Men  who  have  ruined  their  health  by 
dissipation  and  animal  sensualism — are  there  any  of 
them  here  this  morning?  Are  there  none  of  us  whose 
faces,  whose  trembling  hands,  whose  diseased  frames, 
are  the  tokens  that  they  belong  to  the  flesh  and  the 
world  and  the  devil?    Whose  do  you  bear? 

Oh!  when  one  looks  at  all  the  faces  that  pass  one 
upon  the  street — this  all  drawn  with  avarice  and 
earthly-mindedness ;  that  all  bloated  with  self-indul- 
gence and  loose  living — when  one  sees  the  mean  faces, 
the  passionate  faces,  the  cruel  faces,  the  vindictive 
faces,  the  lustful  faces,  the  worldly  faces,  one  sees  how 
many  of  us  bear  in  our  bodies  the  marks  of  another 
lord.  They  have  no  rest  day  nor  night  who  worship 
the  beast;  and  whosoever  receiveth  the  mark  of  his 
name. 

I  pray  you,  yield  yourselves  to  your  true  Lord,  so  on 
earth  you  may  bear  the  beginnings  of  the  likeness 
that  stamps  you  His,  and  hereafter,  as  one  of  His 
happy  slaves,  shall  do  priestly  service  at  His  throne 
and  see  His  face,  and  His  name  shall  be  in  your 
foreheads. 


PHILIPPIANS 

LOVING  GREETINGS 

'  Paul  and  Timothy,  servants  of  Christ  Jesus,  to  all  the  saints  in  Christ  Jesus 
which  are  at  Philippi,  with  the  hishops  and  deacons:  2.  Grace  to  you  and 
peace  from  God  our  Father  and  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ.  3. 1  thank  my  God  upon 
all  my  remembrance  of  you,  4.  Always  in  every  supplication  of  mine  on  behalf  of 
you  all  making  my  supplication  with  joy,  6.  For  your  fellowship  in  furtherance 
of  the  gospel  from  the  first  day  until  now ;  6.  Being  confident  of  this  very  thing, 
that  He  which  began  a  good  work  in  you  will  perfect  it  until  the  day  of  Jesus 
Christ :  7.  Even  as  it  is  right  for  me  to  be  thus  minded  on  behalf  of  you  all, 
because  I  have  you  in  my  heart,  inasmuch  as,  both  in  my  bonds  and  in  the  defence 
and  confirmation  of  the  gospel,  ye  all  are  partakers  with  me  of  grace.  8.  For  God 
is  my  witness,  how  I  long  after  you  all  in  the  tender  mercies  of  Christ  Jesus.'- 
Phil.  i.  1-8  (R.V.). 

The  bond  between  Paul  and  the  church  at  Philippi 
was  peculiarly  close.  It  had  been  founded  by  himself, 
as  is  narrated  at  unusual  length  in  the  book  of  Acts. 
It  was  the  first  church  established  in  Europe.  Ten 
years  had  elapsed  since  then,  possibly  more.  Paul  is 
now  a  prisoner  in  Rome,  not  suffering  the  extremest 
rigour  of  imprisonment,  but  still  a  prisoner  in  his  own 
hired  house,  accessible  to  his  friends  and  able  to  do 
work  for  God,  but  still  in  the  custody  of  soldiers, 
chained  and  waiting  till  the  tardy  steps  of  Roman  law 
should  come  up  to  him,  or  perhaps  till  the  caprice  of 
Nero  should  deign  to  hear  his  cause.  In  that  imprison- 
ment we  have  his  letters  to  the  Philippians,  Ephesians, 
Colossians,  and  Philemon,  which  latter  three  are  closely 
connected  in  time,  the  two  former  in  subject,  and  the 
two  latter  in  destination.  This  letter  stands  apart 
from  those  to  the  great  Asiatic  churches. 

9» 


Ts.1-8]  LOVING  GREETINGS  201 

Its  tone  and  general  cast  are  unlike  those  of  most  of 
his  letters.  It  contains  no  doctrinal  discussions  and 
no  rebukes  of  evil,  but  is  an  outpouring  of  hapi)y  love 
and  confidence.  Like  all  Paul's  epistles  it  begins  with 
salutations,  and  like  most  of  them  with  prayer,  but 
from  the  very  beginning  is  a  long  gush  of  love.  These 
early  verses  seem  to  me  very  beautiful  if  we  regard 
them  either  as  a  revelation  of  the  personal  character 
of  the  Apostle,  or  as  a  picture  of  the  relation  between 
teacher  and  taught  in  its  most  blessed  and  undisturbed 
form,  or  as  a  lovely  ideal  of  friendship  and  love  in  any 
relation,  hallowed  and  solemnised  by  Christian  feeling. 

Verses  one  and  two  contain  the  apostolic  greeting. 
In  it  we  note  the  senders.  Timothy  is  associated  with 
Paul,  according  to  his  custom  in  all  his  letters  even 
when  he  goes  on  immediately  to  speak  in  the  singular. 
He  ever  sought  to  hide  his  own  supremacy  and  to  bring 
his  friend s  into  prominence.  He  was  a  great,  lowly  sou  1, 
who  had  no  pride  in  the  dignity  of  his  position  but  felt 
the  weight  of  its  responsibility  and  would  fain  have 
had  it  shared.  He  calls  Timothy  and  himself  the  slaves 
of  Christ.  He  regarded  it  as  his  highest  honour  to  be 
Christ's  born  servant,  bound  to  absolute  submission  to 
the  all- worthy  Lord  who  had  died  to  win  him.  It  is  to 
be  noted  that  there  is  no  reference  here  to  apostolic 
authority,  and  the  contrast  is  very  remarkable  in  this 
respect  with  the  Epistle  to  the  Galatians,  where  with 
scornful  emphasis  he  asserts  it  as  bestowed  '  not  from 
men,  neither  through  man,  but  through  Jesus  Christ 
and  God  the  Father.'  In  this  designation  of  himself,  we 
have  already  the  first  trace  of  the  intimate  and  loving 
relationship  in  which  Paul  stood  to  the  Philippians. 
There  was  no  need  for  him  to  assert  what  was  not 
denied,  and  he  did  not  wish  to  deal  with  them  officially, 


202  PHILIPPIANS  [ch.i. 

but  rather  personally.  There  is  a  similar  omission  in 
Philemon  and  a  pathetic  substitution  there  of  the 
•  prisoner  of  Jesus  Christ '  for  the  '  slave  of  Christ  Jesus.' 

The  persons  addressed  are  'all  the  saints  in  Christ 
Jesus.'  As  he  had  not  called  himself  an  apostle,  so  he 
does  not  call  them  a  church.  He  will  not  lose  in 
an  abstraction  the  personal  bond  which  unites  them. 
They  are  saints,  which  is  not  primarily  a  designation  of 
moral  purity,  but  of  consecration  to  God,  from  whom 
indeed  purity  flows.  The  primitive  meaning  of  the 
word  is  separation ;  the  secondary  meaning  is  holiness, 
and  the  connection  between  these  two  meanings  con- 
tains a  whole  ethical  philosophy.  They  are  saints  in 
Christ  Jesus ;  union  with  Him  is  the  condition  both  of 
consecration  and  of  purity. 

The  Philippian  community  had  an  organisation 
primitive  but  sufficient.  We  do  not  enter  on  the  dis- 
cussion of  its  two  offices  further  than  to  note  that  the 
bishops  are  evidently  identical  with  the  elders,  in  the 
account  in  Acts  xx.  of  Paul's  parting  with  the  Ephesian 
Christians,  where  the  same  persons  are  designated  by 
both  titles,  as  is  also  the  case  in  Titus  i.  5  and  7 ;  the 
one  name  (elder)  coming  from  the  Hebrew  and  designa- 
ting the  office  on  the  side  of  dignity,  the  other  (bishop) 
being  of  Greek  origin  and  representing  it  in  terms  of 
function.  We  note  that  there  were  several  elders  then 
in  the  Philippian  church,  and  that  their  place  in  the  salu- 
tation negatives  the  idea  of  hierarchical  supremacy. 

The  benediction  or  prayer  for  grace  and  peace  is 
couched  in  the  form  which  it  assumes  in  all  Paul's 
letters.  It  blends  Eastern  and  Western  forms  of  greet- 
ing, •  Grace '  being  the  Greek  and  *  Peace '  the  Hebrew 
form  of  salutation.  So  Christ  fuses  and  fulfils  the 
world's  desires.    The  grace  which  He  gives  is  the  self- 


vs.  1-8]  LOVING  GREETINGS  203 

imparting  love  of  God,  the  peace  which  He  gives  is  its 
consequence,  and  the  salutation  is  an  unmistakable 
evidence  of  Paul's  belief  in  Christ's  divinity. 

This  salutation  is  followed  by  a  great  burst  of 
thankful  love,  for  the  full  apprehension  of  which  we 
must  look  briefly  at  the  details  of  these  verses.  We 
have  first  Paul's  thankfulness  in  all  his  remembrance 
of  the  Philippians,  then  he  further  defines  the  times  of 
his  thankfulness  as  'always  in  every  supplication  of 
mind  on  behalf  of  you  all  making  my  supplication  with 
joy.'  His  gratitude  for  them  is  expressed  in  all  his 
prayers  which  are  all  thank-offerings.  He  never  thinks 
of  them  nor  prays  for  them  without  thanking  God  for 
them.  Then  comes  the  reason  for  his  gratitude — their 
fellowship  in  furtherance  of  the  gospel,  from  the  first 
day  when  Lydia  constrained  him  to  come  into  her 
house,  until  this  moment  when  now  at  the  last  their  care 
of  him  had  flourished  again.  The  Revised  Version's 
rendering  'fellowship  in  furtherance  of  instead  of 
'  fellowship  in '  conveys  the  great  lesson  which  the 
other  rendering  obscures — that  the  true  fellowship  is 
not  in  enjoyment  but  in  service,  and  refers  not  so 
much  to  a  common  participation  in  the  blessedness  as 
in  the  toils  and  trials  of  Christian  work.  This  is 
apparent  in  an  immediately  following  verse  where  the 
Philippians'  fellowship  with  Christ  is  again  spoken  of 
as  consisting  in  sharing  both  in  His  bonds  and  in  the 
double  work  of  defending  the  gospel  from  gainsayers 
and  in  positively  proclaiming  it.  Very  beautifully  in 
this  connection  does  he  designate  that  work  and  toil 
as  •  my  grace.' 

The  fellowship  which  thus  is  the  basis  of  his  thanks- 
giving leads  on  to  a  confidence  which  he  cherishes  for 
them  and  which  helps  to  make   his  prayers   joyful 


204  PHILIPPIANS  [ch.i. 

thanksgivings.  And  such  confidence  becomes  him 
because  he  has  them  in  his  heart,  and  '  love  hopeth  all 
things'  and  delights  to  believe  in  and  anticipate  all 
good  concerning  its  object.  He  has  them  in  his  heart 
because  they  faithfully  share  with  him  his  honourable, 
blessed  burdens.  But  that  is  not  all,  it  is  *in  the 
tender  mercies '  of  Christ  that  he  loved  them.  His  love 
is  the  love  of  Christ  in  him ;  his  being  is  so  united  to 
Jesus  that  his  heart  beats  vt^ith  the  same  emotion  as 
throbs  in  Christ's,  and  all  that  is  merely  natural  and 
of  self  in  his  love  is  changed  into  a  solemn  participation 
in  the  great  love  which  Christ  has  to  them.  This, 
then,  being  the  general  exposition  of  the  words,  let  us 
now  dwell  for  a  little  while  on  the  broad  principles 
suggested  by  them. 

I.  Participation  in  the  work  of  Christ  is  the  noblest 
basis  for  love  and  friendship. 

Paul  had  tremendous  courage  and  yet  hungered  for 
sympathy.  He  had  no  outlets  for  his  love  but  his 
fellow  Christians.  There  had,  no  doubt,  been  a  wrench- 
ing of  the  ties  of  kindred  when  he  became  a  Christian, 
and  his  love,  dammed  back  and  restrained,  had  to  pour 
itself  on  his  brethren. 

The  Church  is  a  workshop,  not  a  dormitory,  and 
every  Christian  man  and  w^oman  is  bound  to  help  in 
the  common  cause.  These  Philippians  help  Paul  by 
sympathy  and  gifts,  indeed,  but  by  their  own  direct  work 
as  well,  and  things  are  not  right  with  us  unless  leaders 
can  say,  *  Ye  all  are  partakers  of  my  grace.'  There  are 
other  real  and  sweet  bonds  of  love  and  friendship,  but 
the  most  real  and  sweetest  is  to  be  found  in  our 
common  relation  to  Jesus  Christ  and  in  our  co-opera- 
tion in  the  work  which  is  ours  because  it  is  His  and 
we  are  His. 


▼i.  1-8]  LOVING  GREETINGS  205 

II.  Thankful,  glad  prayer  flows  from  such  co-opera- 
tion. 

The  prisoner  in  his  bonds  in  the  alien  city  had  the 
remembrance  of  his  friends  coming  into  his  chamber 
like  fresh,  cool  air,  or  fragrance  from  far-off  gardens.  A 
thrill  of  gladness  was  in  his  soul  as  often  as  he  thought 
on  them.  It  is  blessed  if  in  our  experience  teacher 
and  taught  are  knit  together  thus ;  without  some  such 
bond  of  union  no  good  will  be  done.  The  relation  of 
pastor  and  people  is  so  delicate  and  spiritual,  the 
purpose  of  it  so  different  from  that  of  mere  teaching, 
the  laws  of  it  so  informal  and  elastic,  the  whole  power 
of  it,  therefore,  so  dependent  on  sympathy  and  mutual 
kindliness  that,  unless  there  be  something  like  the  bond 
which  united  Paul  and  the  Philippians,  there  will  be 
no  prosperity  or  blessing.  The  thinnest  film  of  cloud 
prevents  deposition  of  dew.  If  all  men  in  pulpits  could 
say  what  Paul  said  of  the  Philippians,  and  all  men  in 
pews  could  deserve  to  have  it  said  of  them,  the  world 
would  feel  the  power  of  a  quickened  Church. 

III.  Confidence  is  born  of  love  and  common  service. 
Paul  delights  to  think  that  God  will  go  on  because 

God  has  already  begun  a  good  work  in  them,  and  Paul 
delights  to  think  of  their  perfection  because  he  loves 
them.  *God  is  not  a  man  that  He  should  lie,  or  the 
son  of  man  that  He  should  repent.*  His  past  is  the 
guarantee  for  His  future ;  what  He  begins  He  finishes. 

IV.  Our  love  is  hallowed  and  greatened  in  the  love 
of  Christ. 

Paul  lived,  yet  not  he,  but  Christ  lived  in  him.  It  is 
but  one  illustration  of  the  principle  of  his  being  that 
Christ  who  was  the  life  of  his  life,  is  the  heart  of  his 
love.  He  longed  after  his  Philippian  friends  in  the 
tender  mercies  of  Christ  Jesus.    This  and  this  only  is 


206  PHILIPPIANS  [ch.  i. 

the  true  consecration  of  love  when  we  live  and  love  in 
the  Lord;  when  we  will  as  Christ  does,  think  as  He 
does,  love  as  He  does,  when  the  mind  that  was  in  Christ 
Jesus  was  in  us.  It  is  needful  to  guard  against  the 
intrusion  of  mere  human  affection  and  regard  into  our 
sacred  relations  in  the  Church ;  it  is  needful  to  guard 
against  it  in  our  own  personal  love  and  friendship. 
Let  us  see  that  we  ourselves  know^  and  believe  the  love 
wherewith  Christ  hath  loved  us,  and  then  let  us  see 
that  that  love  dwells  in  us  informing  and  hallowing 
our  hearts,  making  them  tender  with  His  great  tender- 
ness, and  turning  all  the  water  of  our  earthly  affections 
into  the  new  wine  of  His  kingdom.  Let  the  law  for 
our  hearts,  as  well  as  for  our  minds  and  wills,  be  '  I  live, 
yet  not  I  but  Christ  liveth  in  me.' 


A  COMPREHENSIVE  PRAYER 

'And  this  I  pray,  that  your  love  may  abound  yet  more  and  more  in  knowledge 
and  all  discernment;  10.  So  that  ye  may  approve  the  things  that  are  excellent; 
that  ye  may  be  sincere  and  void  of  offence  unto  the  day  of  Christ;  11.  Being 
filled  with  the  fruits  of  righteousness,  which  are  through  Jesus  Christ,  unto  the 
glory  and  praise  of  God.'— Phil.  i.  9-11  (R.V.). 

What  a  blessed  friendship  is  that  of  which  the  natural 
language  is  prayer !  We  have  many  ways,  thank  God, 
of  showing  our  love  and  of  helping  one  another,  but 
the  best  way  is  by  praying  for  one  another.  All  that 
is  selfish  and  low  is  purged  out  of  our  hearts  in  the  act, 
suspicions  and  doubts  fade  away  when  we  pray  for 
those  whom  we  love.  Many  an  alienation  would  have 
melted  like  morning  mists  if  it  had  been  prayed  about, 
added  tenderness  and  delicacy  come  to  our  friendships 
so  like  the  bloom  on  ripening  grapes.  We  may  test 
our  loves  by  this  simple  criterion— Can  we  pray  about 


Ts.9-11]    A  COMPREHENSIVE  PRAYER    207 

them?  If  not,  should  we  have  them?  Are  they 
blessings  to  us  or  to  others  ? 

This  prayer,  like  all  those  in  Paul's  epistles,  is  wonder- 
fully full.  His  deep  affection  for,  and  joy  in,  the 
Philippian  church  breathes  in  every  word  of  it.  Even 
his  jealous  watchfulness  saw  nothing  in  them  to 
desire  but  progress  in  what  they  possessed.  Such  a 
desire  is  the  highest  that  love  can  frame.  We  can  wish 
nothing  better  for  one  another  than  growth  in  the  love 
of  God.  Paul's  estimate  of  the  highest  good  of  those 
who  were  dearest  to  him  was  that  they  should  be  more 
and  more  completely  filled  with  the  love  of  God  and 
with  its  fruits  of  holiness  and  purity,  and  what  was  his 
supreme  desire  for  the  Philippians  is  the  highest  pur- 
pose of  the  gospel  for  us  all,  and  should  be  the  aim  of 
our  effort  and  longing,  dominating  all  others  as  some 
sovereign  mountain  peak  towers  above  the  valleys. 
Looking  then  at  this  prayer  as  containing  an  outline 
of  true  progress  in  the  Christian  life,  we  may  note : 

I.  The  growth  in  keenness  of  conscience  founded  on 
growth  in  love. 

Paul  does  not  merely  desire  that  their  love  may 
abound,  but  that  it  may  become  more  and  more  '  rich 
in  knowledge  and  all  discernment.'  The  former  is  per- 
haps accurate  knowledge,  and  the  latter  the  application 
of  it.  'Discernment'  literally  means  '  sense,'  and  here, 
of  course,  when  employed  about  spiritual  and  moral 
things  it  means  the  power  of  apprehending  good  and 
bad  as  such.  It  is,  I  suppose,  substantially  equivalent 
to  conscience,  the  moral  tact  or  touch  of  the  soul  by 
which,  in  a  manner  analogous  to  bodily  sense,  it  ascer- 
tains the  moral  character  of  things.  This  growth  of 
love  in  the  power  of  spiritual  and  moral  discernment 
is  desired  in  order  to  its  exercise  in  'proving  things 


208  PHILIPPI ANS  [ch.  l 

that  differ.'  It  is  a  process  of  discrimination  and  test- 
ing that  is  meant,  which  is,  I  think,  fairly  represented 
by  the  more  modern  expression  which  I  have  used — 
keenness  of  conscience. 

I  need  spend  little  time  in  remarking  on  the  absolute 
need  of  such  a  process  of  discrimination.  We  are  sur- 
rounded by  temptations  to  evil,  and  live  in  a  world 
where  maxims  and  principles  not  in  accordance  with 
the  gospel  abound.  Our  own  natures  are  but  partially 
sanctified.  The  shows  of  things  must  be  tested. 
Apparent  good  must  be  proved.  The  Christian  life  is 
not  merely  to  unfold  itself  in  peace  and  order,  but 
through  conflict.  We  are  not  merely  to  follow  impulses, 
or  to  live  as  angels  do,  who  are  above  sin,  or  as  animals 
do  who  are  beneath  it.  When  false  coin  is  current  it 
is  folly  to  accept  any  without  a  test.  All  around  us 
there  is  glamour,  and  so  within  us  there  is  need  for 
careful  watchfulness  and  quick  discrimination. 

This  keenness  of  conscience  follows  on  the  growth  of 
love.  Nothing  makes  a  man  more  sensitive  to  evil 
than  a  hearty  love  to  God.  Such  a  heart  is  keener  to 
discern  what  is  contrary  to  its  love  than  any  ethical 
maxims  can  make  it.  A  man  who  lives  in  love  will  be 
delivered  from  the  blinding  influence  of  his  own  evil 
tastes,  and  a  heart  steadfast  in  love  will  not  be  swayed 
by  lower  temptations.  Communion  with  God  will, 
from  its  very  familiarity  with  Him,  instinctively  dis- 
cern the  evil  of  evil,  as  a  man  coming  out  of  pure  air 
is  conscious  of  vitiated  atmosphere  which  those  who 
dwell  in  it  do  not  perceive.  It  used  to  be  said  that 
Venice  glass  would  shiver  into  fragments  if  poison  were 
poured  into  the  cup.  As  evil  spirits  were  supposed  to 
be  cast  out  by  the  presence  of  an  innocent  child  or  a 
pure  virgin,  so  the  ugly  shapes  that  sometimes  tempt 


vi.9-11]    A  COMPREHENSIVE  PRAYER    209 

us  by  assuming  fair  disguises  will  be  shown  in  their 
native  hideousness  when  confronted  with  a  heart  filled 
with  the  love  of  God. 

Such  keenness  of  judgment  is  capable  of  indefinite 
increase.  Our  consciences  should  become  more  and 
more  sensitive :  we  should  always  be  advancing  in  our 
discovery  of  our  own  evils,  and  be  more  conscious  of 
our  sins,  the  fewer  we  have  of  them.  Twilight  in  a 
chamber  may  reveal  some  foul  things,  and  the  growing 
light  will  disclose  more.  '  Secret  faults '  will  cease  to 
be  secret  when  our  love  abounds  more  and  more  in 
knowledge,  and  in  all  discernment. 

II.  The  purity  and  completeness  of  character  flowing 
from  this  keenness  of  conscience. 

The  Apostle  desires  that  the  knowledge  which  he 
asks  for  his  Philippian  friends  may  pass  over  into 
character,  and  he  describes  the  sort  of  men  which  he 
desires  them  to  be  in  two  clauses,  *  sincere  and  void  of 
offence '  being  the  one,  *  filled  with  the  fruits  of  right- 
eousness' being  the  other.  The  former  is  perhaps  pre- 
dominantly negative,  the  latter  positive.  That  which 
is  sincere  is  so  because  when  held  up  to  the  light  it 
shows  no  flaws,  and  that  which  is  without  offence  is  so 
because  the  stones  in  the  path  have  been  cleared  away 
by  the  power  of  discrimination,  so  that  there  is  no 
stumbling.  The  life  which  discerns  keenly  will  bring 
forth  the  fruit  which  consists  of  righteousness,  and 
that  fruit  is  to  fill  the  whole  nature  so  that  no  part 
shall  be  without  it. 

Nothing  lower  than  this  is  the  lofty  standard  towards 
which  each  Christian  life  is  to  aim,  and  to  which  it  can 
indefinitely  approximate.  It  is  not  enough  to  aim  at 
the  negative  virtue  of  sincerity  so  that  the  most 
searching  scrutiny  of  the  web  of  our  lives  shall  detect 

o 


210  PHILIPPIANS  [CH.I. 

no  flaws  in  the  weaving,  and  no  threads  dropped  or 
broken.  There  must  also  be  the  actual  presence  of 
positive  righteousness  filling  life  in  all  its  parts.  That 
lofty  standard  is  pressed  upon  us  by  a  solemn  motive, 
'  unto  the  day  of  Christ.'  We  are  ever  to  keep  before 
us  the  thought  that  in  that  coming  day  all  our  works 
will  be  made  manifest,  and  that  all  of  them  should  be 
done,  so  that  when  we  have  to  give  account  of  them 
we  shall  not  be  ashamed. 

The  Apostle  takes  it  for  granted  here  that  if  the 
Philippian  Christians  know  what  is  right  and  what  is 
wrong,  they  will  immediately  choose  and  do  the  right. 
Is  he  forgetting  the  great  gulf  between  knowledge  and 
practice  ?  Not  so,  but  he  is  strong  in  the  faith  that  love 
needs  only  to  know  in  order  to  do.  The  love  which 
abounds  more  and  more  in  knowledge  and  in  all  dis- 
cernment will  be  the  soul  of  obedience,  and  will  delight 
in  fulfilling  the  law  which  it  has  delighted  in  beholding. 
Other  knowledge  has  no  tendency  to  lead  to  practice, 
but  this  knowledge  which  is  the  fruit  of  love  has  for  its 
fruit  righteousness. 

III.  The  great  Name  in  which  this  completeness  is 
secured. 

The  Apostle's  prayer  dwells  not  only  on  the  way  by 
which  a  Christian  life  may  increase  itself,  but  in  its 
close  reaches  the  yet  deeper  thought  that  all  that 
growth  comes  '  through  Jesus  Christ.'  He  is  the  Giver 
of  it  all,  so  that  we  are  not  so  much  called  to  a  painful 
toil  as  to  a  glad  reception.  Our  love  fills  us  with  the 
fruits  of  righteousness,  because  it  takes  all  these  from 
His  hands.  It  is  from  His  gift  that  conscience  derives 
its  sensitiveness.  It  is  by  His  inspiration  that  con- 
science becomes  strong  enough  to  determine  action, 
and  that  even  our  dull  hearts  are  quickened  into  a  glow 


vs.  9-11]      A  PRISONER'S  TRIUMPH  211 

of  desiring  to  have  in  our  lives,  the  law  of  the  spirit  of 
life,  that  was  in  Christ  Jesus,  and  to  make  our  own  all 
that  we  see  in  Him  of  *  things  that  are  lovely  and  of 
good  report.' 

The  prayer  closes  with  a  reference  to  the  highest 
end  of  all  our  perfecting — the  glory  and  praise  of  God ; 
the  former  referring  rather  to  the  transcendent 
majesty  of  God  in  itself,  and  the  latter  to  the  exalta- 
tion of  it  by  men.  The  highest  glory  of  God  comes 
from  the  gradual  increase  in  redeemed  men's  likeness 
to  Him.  They  are  '  the  secretaries  of  His  praise,'  and 
some  portion  of  that  great  honour  and  responsibility 
lies  on  each  of  us.  If  all  Christian  men  were  what 
they  all  might  be  and  should  be,  swift  and  sure  in  their 
condemnation  of  evil  and  loyal  fidelity  to  conscience, 
and  if  their  lives  were  richly  hung  with  ripened  clusters 
of  the  fruits  of  righteousness,  the  glory  of  God  would 
be  more  resplendent  in  the  world,  and  new  tongues 
would  break  into  praise  of  Him  who  had  made  men  so 
like  Himself. 


A  PRISONER'S  TRIUMPH 

•Now  I  would  have  you  know,  brethren,  that  the  things  which  happened  unto 
me  have  fallen  out  rather  unto  the  progress  of  the  gospel;  13.  So  that  my 
bonds  became  manifest  in  Christ  throughout  the  whole  prtetorian  guard,  and  to 
all  the  rest ;  14.  And  that  most  of  the  brethren  in  the  Lord,  being  confident  through 
my  bonds,  are  more  abundantly  bold  to  speak  the  word  of  God  without  fear. 
15.  Some  indeed  preach  Christ  even  of  envy  and  strife;  and  some  also  of  good 
will:  16.  The  one  do  it  of  love,  knowing  that  I  am  set  for  the  defence  of  the 
gospel:  17.  But  the  other  proclaim  Christ  of  faction,  not  sincerely,  thinking  to 
raise  up  affliction  for  me  in  my  bonds.  18.  What  then  ?  only  that  in  every  way, 
whether  in  pretence  or  in  truth,  Christ  is  proclaimed;  and  therein  I  rejoice,  yea, 
and  will  rejoice.  19.  For  I  know  that  this  shall  turn  to  my  salvation,  through 
your  supplication  and  the  supply  of  the  Spirit  of  Jesus  Christ.  20.  According  to 
my  earnest  expectation  and  hope,  that  in  nothing  shall  I  be  put  to  shame,  but  that 
with  all  boldness,  as  always,  so  now  also  Christ  shaJI  be  magnified  in  my  body, 
whether  by  life  or  by  death,'— Phil.  i.  12-20  (R.V.) 

Paul's   writings  are   full   of   autobiography,    that   is 
partly  owing  to  temperament,  partly  to  the  profound 


212  PHILIPPIANS  [CH.  i. 

interpenetration  of  his  whole  nature  with  his  religion. 
His  theology  was  but  the  generalisation  of  his  experi- 
ence. He  has  felt  and  verified  all  that  he  has  to  say. 
But  the  personal  experiences  of  this  sunny  letter  to  his 
favourite  church  have  a  character  all  their  own.  In 
that  atmosphere  of  untroubled  love  and  sympathy  a 
shyer  heart  than  Paul's  would  have  opened :  his  does  so 
in  tenderness,  gladness,  and  trust.  We  have  here  the 
unveiling  of  his  inmost  self  in  response  to  what  he 
knew  would  be  an  eager  desire  for  news  of  his  welfare. 
This  whole  section  appears  to  me  to  be  a  wonderful 
revelation  of  his  prison  thoughts,  an  example  of  what 
we  may  call  the  ennobling  power  of  a  passionate 
enthusiasm  for  Christ.  Remember  that  he  is  a 
prisoner,  shut  out  from  his  life's  work,  waiting  to  be 
tried  before  Nero,  whose  reign  had  probably,  by  this 
time,  passed  from  its  delusive  morning  of  dewy  promise 
to  its  lurid  noon.  The  present  and  the  future  were 
dark  for  him,  and  yet  in  spite  of  them  all  comes  forth 
this  burst  of  undaunted  courage  and  noble  gladness. 
"We  simply  follow  the  course  of  the  words  as  they  lie, 
and  we  find  in  them, 

I.  An  absorbing  purpose  which  bends  all  circum- 
stances to  its  service  and  values  them  only  as 
instruments. 

The  things  which  happened  unto  me ;  that  is  Paul's 
minimising  euphemism  for  the  grim  realities  of  im- 
prisonment, or  perhaps  for  some  recent  ominous  turns  in 
his  circumstances.  To  him  they  are  not  worth  dwell- 
ing on  further,  nor  is  their  personal  incidence  worth 
taking  into  account ;  the  only  thing  which  is  important 
is  to  say  how  these  things  have  affected  his  life's  work. 
It  is  enough  for  him,  and  he  believes  that  it  will  be 
enough  even  for  his  loving  friends  at  Philippi  to  know 


Ts.  12-20]   A  PRISONER'S  TRIUMPH  213 

that,  instead  of  their  being  as  they  might  have  feared, 
and  as  he  sometimes  when  he  was  faithless  expected, 
hindrances  to  his  work,  they  have  turned  out  rather  to 
•  the  furtherance  of  the  gospel.'  Whether  he  has  been 
comf  (  1  table  or  not  is  a  matter  of  very  small  import- 
ance, the  main  thing  is  that  Christ's  work  has  been 
helped,  and  then  he  goes  on  to  tell  two  ways  in  which 
his  imprisonment  had  conduced  to  tins  end. 

*My  bonds  became  manifest  in  Christ.'  It  has 
been  clearly  shown  why  I  was  a  prisoner ;  all  the 
Praetorian  guard  had  learned  what  Paul  was  there  for. 
We  know  from  Acts  that  he  w^as  '  suffered  to  abide  by 
himself  with  the  soldier  that  kept  him.'  He  has  no 
word  to  say  of  the  torture  of  compulsory  association, 
night  and  day,  with  the  rude  legionaries,  or  of  the 
horrors  of  such  a  presence  in  his  sweetest,  sacredest 
moments  of  communion  with  his  Lord.  These  are  all 
swallowed  up  in  the  thought  as  they  were  in  the  fact, 
that  each  new  guard  as  he  came  to  sit  there  beside 
Paul  was  a  new  hearer,  and  that  by  this  time  he  must 
have  told  the  story  of  Christ  and  His  love  to  nearly  the 
whole  corps.  That  is  a  grand  and  wonderful  picture  of 
passionate  earnestness  and  absorbed  concentration  in 
one  pursuit.  Something  of  the  same  sort  is  in  all 
pursuits,  the  condition  of  success  and  the  sure  result  of 
real  interest.  We  have  all  to  be  specialists  if  we  would 
succeed  in  any  calling.  The  river  that  spreads  wide 
flows  slow,  and  if  it  is  to  have  a  scour  in  its  current  it 
must  be  kept  between  high  banks.  We  have  to  bring 
ourselves  to  a  point  and  to  see  that  the  point  is  red- 
hot  if  we  mean  to  bore  with  it.  If  our  limitations 
are  simply  enforced  by  circumstances,  they  may  be 
maiming,  but  if  they  come  of  clear  insight  and  free 
choice  of  worthy  ends,  they  are  noble.    The  artist,  the 


214  PHILIPPIANS  [CH.  i. 

scholar,  the  craftsman,  all  need  to  take  for  their  motto 
'  This  one  thing  I  do.'  I  suppose  that  a  man  would  not 
be  able  to  make  a  good  button  unless  he  confined  him- 
self to  button-making.  We  see  round  us  abundant 
examples  of  men  who,  for  material  aims  and  almost 
instinctively,  use  all  circumstances  for  one  end  and 
appraise  them  according  to  their  relations  to  that,  and 
they  are  quoted  as  successful,  and  held  up  to  young 
souls  as  patterns  to  be  imitated.  Yes  I  But  what 
about  the  man  who  does  the  same  in  regard  to  Christ 
and  His  work  ?  Is  he  thought  of  as  an  example  to  be 
imitated  or  as  a  warning  to  be  avoided  ?  Is  not  the 
very  same  concentration  when  applied  to  Christian 
work  and  living  thought  to  be  fanatical,  which  is 
welcomed  with  universal  applause  when  it  is  directed 
to  lower  pursuits  ?  The  contrast  of  our  eager  absorp- 
tion in  worldly  things  and  of  the  ease  with  which  any 
fluttering  butterfly  can  draw  us  away  from  the  path 
which  leads  us  to  God,  ought  to  bring  a  blush  to  all 
cheeks  and  penitence  to  all  hearts.  There  was  no  more 
obligation  on  Paul  to  look  at  the  circumstances  of  his 
life  thus  than  there  is  on  every  Christian  to  do  so.  We 
do  not  desire  that  all  should  be  apostles,  but  the 
Apostle's  temper  and  way  of  looking  at  'the  things 
which  happened  unto '  him  should  be  our  way  of  look- 
ing at  the  things  which  happen  unto  us.  We  shall 
estimate  them  rightly,  and  as  God  estimates  them,  only 
when  we  estimate  them  according  to  their  power  to 
serve  our  souls  and  to  further  Christ's  kingdom. 

II.  The  magnetism  or  contagion  of  enthusiasm. 

The  second  way  by  which  Paul's  circumstances 
furthered  the  gospel  was  *  that  most  of  the  brethren, 
being  confident  through  my  bonds,  are  more  abundantly 
bold  to  speak  the  word  of  God.'    His  constancy  and 


vs.  12-20]  A  PRISONER'S  TRIUMPH  215 

courage  stirred  them  up.  Moved  by  good-will  and  love, 
they  were  heartened  to  preach  because  they  saw  in 
him  one  'appointed  by  God  for  the  defence  of  the 
gospel.'  A  soul  all  on  flame  has  power  to  kindle 
others.  There  is  an  old  story  of  a  Scottish  martyr 
whose  constancy  at  the  stake  touched  so  many  hearts 
that  '  a  merry  gentleman  *  said  to  Cardinal  Beaton,  '  If 
ye  burn  any  more  you  should  burn  them  in  low  cellars, 
for  the  reek  (smoke)  of  Mr.  Patrick  Hamilton  has 
infected  as  many  as  it  blew  upon.' 

It  is  not  only  in  the  case  of  martyrs  that  enthusiasm 
is  contagious.  However  highly  we  may  estimate  the 
impersonal  forces  that  operate  for  '  the  furtherance  of 
the  gospel '  we  cannot  but  see  that  in  all  ages,  from  the 
time  of  Paul  down  to  to-day,  the  main  agents  for  the 
spread  of  the  gospel  have  been  individual  souls  all 
aflame  with  the  love  of  God  in  Christ  Jesus  and  filled 
with  the  life  of  His  Spirit.  The  history  of  the  Church 
has  largely  consisted  in  the  biographies  of  its  saints, 
and  every  great  revival  of  religion  has  been  the  flame 
kindled  round  a  flaming  heart.  Paul  was  impelled  by 
his  own  love ;  the  brethren  in  Rome  were  in  a  lower 
state  as  only  reflecting  his,  and  it  ought  to  be  the 
prerogative  of  every  Christian  to  be  a  centre  and  source 
of  kindling  influence  rather  than  a  mere  recipient  of  it. 
It  is  a  question  which  may  well  be  asked  by  each  of 
us  about  ourselves — would  anybody  find  quickening 
impulses  to  divine  life  and  Christian  service  coming 
from  us,  or  do  we  simply  serve  to  keep  others'  coldness 
in  countenance?  It  was  said  of  old  of  Jesus  Christ, 
•  He  shall  baptize  you  in  the  Holy  Ghost  and  in  fire,'  and 
that  promise  remains  effective  to-day,  however  little 
one  looking  on  the  characters  of  the  mass  of  so-called 
Christians  would  believe  it.    They  seem  rather  to  have 


216  PHILIPPIANS  [CH.I. 

been  plunged  into  ice-cold  water  than  into  fire,  and 
their  coldness  is  as  contagious  as  Paul's  radiant  en- 
thusiasm was.  Let  us  try,  for  our  parts,  to  radiate  out 
the  warmth  of  the  love  of  God,  that  it  may  kindle  in 
others  the  flame  which  it  has  lighted  in  ourselves,  and 
not  be  like  icebergs  floating  southwards  and  bringing 
down  the  temperature  of  even  the  very  temperate  seas 
in  which  we  find  ourselves. 

III.  The  wide  tolerance  of  such  enthusiasm. 

It  is  stigmatised  as  'narrow,'  which  to-day  is  the  sin 
of  sins,  but  it  is  broad  with  the  true  breadth.  Such 
enthusiasm  lifts  a  man  high  enough  to  see  over  many 
hedges  and  to  be  tolerant  even  of  intolerance,  and  of 
the  indifference  which  tolerates  everything  but  earnest- 
ness. Paul  here  deals  with  a  class  amongst  the  Roman 
Christians  who  were  '  preaching  of  envy  and  strife,'  with 
the  malicious  calculation  that  so  they  would  annoy 
him  and  'add  affliction'  to  his  bonds.  It  is  generally 
supposed  that  these  were  Judaising  Christians  against 
whom  Paul  fulminates  in  all  his  letters,  but  I  confess 
that,  notwithstanding  the  arguments  of  authoritative 
commentators,  I  cannot  believe  that  they  are  the  same 
set  of  men  preaching  the  same  doctrines  which  in 
other  places  he  treats  as  destructive  of  the  whole 
gospel.  The  change  of  tone  is  so  great  as  to  require 
the  supposition  of  a  change  of  subjects,  and  the 
Judaisers  with  whom  the  Apostle  waged  a  never- 
ending  warfare,  never  did  evangelistic  work  amongst 
the  heathen  as  these  men  seem  to  have  done,  but 
confined  themselves  to  trying  to  pervert  converts 
already  made.  It  was  not  their  message  but  their 
spirit  that  was  faulty.  With  whatever  purpose  of 
annoyance  they  were  animated,  they  did  'preach 
Christ,'  and  Paul  superbly  brushes  aside  all  that  was 


▼•.12-20]  A  PRISONER'S  TRIUMPH  217 

antagonistic  to  him  personally,  in  his  triumphant 
recognition  that  the  one  thing  needful  was  spoken, 
even  from  unworthy  motives  and  with  a  malicious 
purpose.  The  situation  here  revealed,  strange  though 
it  appears  with  our  ignorance  of  the  facts,  is  but  too 
like  much  of  what  meets  us  still.  Do  we  not  know 
denominational  rivalries  which  infuse  a  bitter  taint  of 
envy  and  strife  into  much  evangelistic  earnestness,  and 
is  the  spectacle  of  a  man  preaching  Christ  with  a  taint 
of  sidelong  personal  motives  quite  unknown  to  this 
day?  We  may  press  the  question  still  more  closely 
home  and  ask  ourselves  if  we  are  entirely  free  from 
the  influence  of  such  a  spirit.  No  man  who  knows 
himself  and  has  learned  how  subtly  lower  motives 
blend  themselves  with  the  highest  will  be  in  haste  to 
answer  these  questions  with  an  unconditional  *  No,'  and 
no  man  who  looks  on  the  sad  spectacle  of  competing 
Christian  communities  and  knows  anything  of  the 
methods  of  competition  that  are  in  force,  will  venture 
to  deny  that  there  are  still  those  who  preach  Christ  of 
envy  and  strife. 

It  comes,  then,  to  be  a  testing  question  for  each  of  us, 
have  we  learned  from  Paul  this  lesson  of  tolerance, 
which  is  not  the  result  of  cold  indifference,  but  the 
outcome  of  fiery  enthusiasm  and  of  a  clear  recognition 
of  the  one  thing  needful?  Granted  that  there  is 
preaching  from  unworthy  motives  and  modes  of  work 
which  offend  our  tastes  and  prejudices,  and  that  there 
are  types  of  evangelistic  earnestness  which  have  errors 
mixed  up  w^ith  them,  are  we  inclined  to  say  'Never- 
theless Christ  is  proclaimed,  and  therein  I  rejoice,  Yea, 
and  will  rejoice '  ?  Much  chaff  may  be  blended  with  the 
seeds  sown;  the  chaff  will  lie  inert  and  the  seed  will 
grow.    Such   tolerance    is    the    very   opposite   of  the 


218  PHILIPPIANS  [CH.I. 

carelessness  which  comes  from  languid  indifference. 
The  one  does  not  mind  what  a  man  preaches  because  it 
has  no  belief  in  any  of  the  things  preached,  and  to  it 
one  thing  is  as  good  as  another,  and  none  are  of  any 
real  consequence.  The  other  proceeds  from  a  passionate 
belief  that  the  one  thing  which  sinful  men  need  to  hear 
is  the  great  message  that  Christ  has  lived  and  died  for 
them,  and  therefore,  it  puts  all  else  on  one  side  and 
cares  nothing  for  jangling  notes  that  may  come  in,  if 
only  above  them  the  music  of  His  name  sounds  out 
clear  and  full. 

IV.  The  calm  fronting  of  life  and  death  as  equally 
magnifying  Christ. 

The  Apostle  is  sure  that  all  the  experiences  of  his 
prison  will  turn  to  his  ultimate  salvation,  because  he  is 
sure  that  his  dear  friends  in  Philippi  will  pray  for  him, 
and  that  through  their  prayers  he  will  receive  a  *  supply 
of  the  Spirit  of  Jesus  Christ,'  which  shall  be  enough 
to  secure  his  steadfastness.  His  expectation  is  not 
that  he  will  escape  from  prison  or  from  martyrdom, 
both  of  which  stand  only  too  clearly  before  him,  but 
that  whatever  may  be  waiting  for  him  in  the  future, 
'  all  boldness '  will  be  granted  him,  so  that  whether  he 
lives  he  will  live  to  the  Lord,  or  whether  he  dies,  he 
will  die  to  the  Lord.  He  had  so  completely  accepted  it 
as  his  life's  purpose  to  magnify  Jesus,  that  the  extremest 
possible  changes  of  condition  came  to  be  insignificant 
to  him.  He  had  what  we  may  have,  the  true  anaes- 
thetic which  will  give  us  a  '  solemn  scorn  of  ills '  and 
make  even  the  last  and  greatest  change  from  life  to 
death  of  little  account.  If  we  magnify  Christ  in  bur 
lives  with  the  same  passionate  earnestness  and  con- 
centrated absorption  as  Paul  had,  our  lives  like  some 
train  on  well-laid  rails  will  enter  upon    the    bridge 


vi.  12-20]   A  STRAIT  BETWIXT  TWO        219 

across  the  valley  with  scarce  a  jolt.  With  whatever 
differences — and  the  differences  are  to  us  tremendous — 
the  same  purpose  will  be  pursued  in  life  and  in  death, 
and  they  who,  living,  live  to  the  praise  of  Christ,  dying 
will  magnify  Him  as  their  last  act  in  the  body  which 
they  leave.  What  was  it  that  made  possible  such  a 
passion  of  enthusiasm  for  a  man  whom  Paul  had  never 
seen  in  the  flesh  ?  What  changed  the  gloomy  fuliginous 
fanaticism  of  the  Pharisee,  at  whose  feet  were  laid  the 
clothes  of  the  men  who  stoned  Stephen,  into  this  radiant 
light,  all  aflame  with  a  divine  splendour?  The  only 
answer  is  in  Paul's  own  words,  *  He  loved  me  and  gave 
Himself  for  me.'  That  answer  is  as  true  for  each  of  us 
as  it  was  for  him.  Does  it  produce  in  us  anything  like 
the  effects  which  it  produced  in  him  ? 

A  STRAIT  BETWIXT  TWO 

To  me  to  lire  Is  Christ,  and  to  die  is  gain.  22.  But  if  I  live  in  the  flesh,  this  is 
the  fniit  of  my  labour :  yet  what  I  shall  choose  I  wot  not.  23.  For  I  am  in  a  strait 
betwixt  two,  having  a  desire  to  depart,  and  to  be  with  Christ ;  which  is  far  better : 
24.  Nevertheless  to  abide  in  the  flesh  is  more  needful  for  you.  25.  And  having  this 
confidence,  I  know  that  I  shall  abide  and  continue  with  you  all  for  your  furtherance 
and  joy  of  faith.'— Phil.  i.  21-25. 

A  PREACHER  may  well  shrink  from  such  a  text.  Its 
elevation  of  feeling  and  music  of  expression  make  all 
sermons  on  it  sound  feeble  and  harsh,  like  some  poor 
shepherd's  pipe  after  an  organ.  But,  though  this  be 
true,  it  may  not  be  useless  to  attempt,  at  least,  to  point 
out  the  course  of  thought  in  these  grand  words.  They 
flow  like  a  great  river,  which  springs  at  first  with  a 
strong  jet  from  some  deep  cave,  then  is  torn  and  chafed 
among  dividing  rocks,  and  after  a  troubled  middle 
course,  moves  at  last  with  stately  and  equable  current 
to  the  sea.  The  Apostle's  thoughts  and  feelings  have 
here,  as  it  were,  a  threefold  bent  in  their  flow.     First, 


220  PHILIPPI ANS  [ch.  i. 

we  have  the  clear,  unhesitating  statement  of  the  com- 
parative advantages  of  life  and  death  to  a  Christian 
man,  when  thought  of  as  affecting  himself  alone.  The 
one  is  Christ,  the  other  gain.  But  we  neither  live  nor 
die  to  ourselves ;  and  no  man  has  a  right  to  think  of 
life  or  death  only  from  the  point  of  view  of  his  own 
advantage.  So  the  problem  is  not  so  simple  as  it  looked. 
Life  here  is  the  condition  of  fruitful  labour  here.  There 
are  his  brethren  and  his  work  to  think  of.  These  bring 
him  to  a  stand,  and  check  the  rising  wish.  He  knows 
not  which  state  to  prefer.  The  stream  is  dammed  back 
between  rocks,  and  it  chafes  and  foams  and  seems  to 
lose  its  way  among  them.  Then  comes  a  third  bend 
in  the  flow  of  thought  and  feeling,  and  he  gladly 
apprehends  it  as  his  present  duty  to  remain  at  his 
work.  If  his  own  joy  is  thereby  less,  his  brethren's 
will  be  more.  If  he  is  not  to  depart  and  be  with 
Christ,  he  will  remain  and  be  with  Christ's  friends, 
which  is,  in  some  sort,  being  with  Him  too.  If  he  may 
not  have  the  gain  of  death,  he  will  have  the  fruit  of 
work  in  life. 

Let  us  try  to  fill  up,  somewhat,  this  meagre  outline  of 
the  warm  stream  that  pours  through  these  great  words. 

I.  The  simplicity  of  the  comparison  between  life  and 
death  to  a  Christian  thinking  of  himself  alone. 

•To  me'  is  plainly  emphatic.  It  means  more  than 
'in  my  judgment'  or  even  'in  my  case.'  It  is  equal  to 
'  To  me  personally,  if  I  stood  alone,  and  had  no  one  to 
consider  but  myself.'  'To  live'  refers  mainly  here  to 
outward  practical  life  of  service,  and  'to  die'  should, 
perhaps,  rather  be  'to  be  dead,'  referring,  not  to  the 
act  of  dissolution,  but  to  the  state  after;  not  to  the 
entrance  chamber,  but  to  the  palace  to  which  it  admits 

So  we  have  here  grandly  set  forth  the  simplicitj^  and 


v8. 21-25]  A  STRAIT  BETWIXT  TWO        221 

unity  of  the  Christian  life.  While  the  words  probably 
refer  mainly  to  outward  life,  they  presuppose  an  in- 
ward, of  which  that  outward  is  the  expression.  In 
every  possible  phase  of  the  word  'life,'  Christ  is  the 
life  of  the  Christian.  To  live  is  Christ,  for  He  is  the 
mystical  source  from  whom  all  ours  flows.  'With 
Thee  is  the  fountain  of  life,'  and  all  life,  both  of  body 
and  spirit,  is  from  Him,  by  Him,  and  in  Him.  '  To  live 
is  Christ,'  for  He  is  the  aim  and  object,  as  well  as  the 
Lord,  of  it  all,  and  no  other  is  worth  calling  life,  but 
that  which  is  for  Him  by  willing  consecration,  as  well 
as  from  Him  by  constant  derivation.  '  To  live  is  Christ,' 
for  He  is  the  model  of  all  our  life,  and  the  one  all- 
sufficient  law  for  us  is  to  follow  Him. 

Life  is  to  be  as  Christ,  for  Christ,  hy,  in,  and  from 
Christ.  So  shall  there  be  strength,  peace,  and  freedom 
in  our  days.  The  unity  brought  into  life  thereby  will 
issue  in  calm  blessedness,  contrasted  wondrously  with 
the  divided  hearts  and  aims  which  fritter  our  days  into 
fragments,  and  make  our  lives  heaps  of  broken  links 
instead  of  chains. 

Surely  this  is  the  charm  which  brings  rest  into  the 
most  troubled  history,  and  nobleness  into  the  lowliest 
duties.  There  is  nothing  so  grand  as  the  unity  breathed 
into  our  else  distracted  days  by  the  all-pervading 
reference  to  and  presence  of  Christ.  Without  that, 
we  are  like  the  mariners  of  the  old  world,  who  crept 
timidly  from  headland  to  headland,  making  each  their 
aim  for  a  while,  and  leaving  each  inevitably  behind, 
never  losing  sight  of  shore,  nor  ever  knowing  the 
wonders  of  the  deep  and  all  the  majesty  of  mid-ocean, 
nor  ever  touching  the  happy  shores  beyond,  which  they 
reach  who  carry  in  their  hearts  a  compass  that  ever 
points  to  the  unseen  pole. 


222  PHILIPPIANS  [ch.i. 

Then  comes  the  other  great  thought,  that  where  life 
is  simply  Christ,  death  will  be  simply  gain. 

Paul,  no  doubt,  shrank  from  the  act  of  death,  as  we 
all  do.  It  was  not  the  narrow  passage  which  attracted 
him,  but  the  broad  land  beyond.  Every  other  aspect 
of  that  was  swallowed  up  in  one  great  thought,  which 
will  occupy  us  more  at  length  presently.  But  that 
word  'gain'  suggests  that  to  Paul's  confident  faith 
death  was  but  an  increase  and  progression  in  all  that 
was  good  here.  To  him  it  was  no  loss  to  lose  flesh  and 
sense  and  all  the  fleeting  joys  with  which  they  link  us. 
To  him  death  was  no  destruction  of  his  being,  and  not 
even  an  interruption  of  its  continuity.  Everything  that 
was  of  any  real  advantage  to  him  was  to  be  his  after 
as  before.  The  change  was  clear  gain.  Everything 
good  was  to  be  just  as  it  had  been,  only  better.  Nothing 
was  to  be  dropped  but  what  it  was  progress  to  lose,  and 
whatever  was  kept  was  to  be  heightened. 

How  strongly  does  that  view  express  the  two  thoughts 
of  the  continuity  and  intensifying  of  the  Christian  life 
beyond  the  grave!  And  what  a  contrast  does  that 
simple,  sublime  confidence  present  to  many  another 
thought  of  death !  To  how  many  men  its  blackness 
seems  to  be  the  sudden  swallowing  up  of  the  light 
of  their  very  being !  To  how  many  more  does  it  seem 
to  put  an  end  to  all  their  occupations,  and  to  shear 
their  lives  in  twain,  as  remorselessly  as  the  fall  of  the 
guillotine  severs  the  head  from  the  body.  How  are 
the  light  butterfly  wings  of  the  trivialities  in  which 
many  men  and  women  spend  their  days  to  carry  them 
across  the  awful  gulf?  What  are  the  people  to  do  on 
the  other  side  whose  lives  have  all  been  given  to  pur- 
poses and  tasks  that  stop  on  this  side  ?  Are  there  shops 
and  mills,  or  warehouses  and  drawing-rooms,  or  studies 


▼8.  21-25]  A  STRAIT  BETWIXT  TWO        223 

and  lecture-halls,  over  there?  "Will  the  lives  which 
have  not  struck  their  roots  down  through  all  the 
surface  soil  to  the  rock,  bear  transplanting?  Alas! 
for  the  thousands  landed  in  that  new  country,  as  unfit 
for  it  by  the  tenor  of  their  past  occupations,  as  some 
pale  artisan,  with  delicate  fingers  and  feeble  muscles, 
set  down  as  a  colonist  to  clear  the  forest ! 

This  Paul  had  a  work  here  which  he  could  carry 
on  hereafter.  There  would  be  no  reversal  of  view,  no 
change  in  the  fundamental  character  of  his  occupations. 
True,  the  special  forms  of  work  which  he  had  pursued 
here  would  be  left  behind,  but  the  principle  underlying 
them  would  continue.  It  matters  very  little  to  the 
servant  whether  he  is  out  in  the  cold  and  wet  *  plough- 
ing and  tending  cattle,'  or  whether  he  is  waiting  on 
his  master  at  table.  It  is  service  all  the  same,  only  it 
is  warmer  and  lighter  in  the  house  than  in  the  field, 
and  it  is  promotion  to  be  made  an  indoor  servant. 

So  the  direction  of  the  life,  and  the  source  of  the 
life,  and  the  fundamentals  of  the  life  continue  un- 
changed. Everything  is  as  it  was,  only  in  the  super- 
lative degree.  To  other  men  the  narrow  plain  on 
which  their  low-lying  lives  are  placed  is  rimmed  by 
the  jagged,  forbidding  white  peaks.  It  is  cold  and 
dreary  on  these  icy  summits  where  no  creature  can 
live.  Perhaps  there  is  land  on  the  other  side ;  who 
knows?  The  pale  barrier  separates  all  here  from  all 
there;  we  know  not  what  may  be  on  the  other  side. 
Only  we  feel  that  the  journey  is  long  and  chill,  that 
the  ice  and  the  barren  stone  appal,  and  that  we  never 
can  carry  our  household  goods,  our  tools,  or  our  wealth 
with  us  up  to  the  black  jaws  of  the  pass. 

But  for  this  man  the  Alps  were  tunnelled.  There 
was  no  interruption  in  his  progress.    He  would  go,  he 


224  PHILIPPIANS  [ch.i. 

believed,  without  'break  of  gauge,'  and  would  pass 
through  the  darkness,  scarcely  knowing  when  it  came, 
and  certainly  unchecked  for  even  a  moment,  right  on 
to  the  other  side  where  he  would  come  out,  as  travellers 
to  Italy  do,  to  fairer  plains  and  bluer  skies,  to  richer 
harvests  and  a  warmer  sun.  No  jolt,  no  pause,  no 
momentary  suspension  of  consciousness,  no  reversal, 
nor  even  interruption  in  his  activity,  did  Paul  expect 
death  to  bring  him,  but  only  continuance  and  increase 
of  all  that  was  essential  to  his  life. 

He  has  calmness  in  his  confidence.  There  is  nothing 
hysterical  or  overwrought  or  morbid  in  these  brief 
words,  so  peaceful  in  their  trust,  so  moderate  and 
restrained  in  their  rapture.  Are  our  anticipations  of 
the  future  moulded  on  such  a  pattern  ?  Do  we  think 
of  it  as  quietly  as  this  man  did  ?  Are  we  as  tranquilly 
sure  about  it?  Is  there  as  little  mist  of  uncertainty 
about  the  clearly  defined  image  to  our  eye  as  there 
was  to  his  ?  Is  our  confidence  so  profound  that  these 
brief  monosyllables  are  enough  to  state  it?  Above  all, 
do  we  know  that  to  die  will  be  gain,  because  we  can 
honestly  say  that  to  live  is  Christ?  If  so,  our  hope  is 
valid,  and  will  not  yield  when  we  lean  heavily  upon  it 
for  support  in  the  ford  over  the  black  stream.  If  our 
hope  is  built  on  anything  besides,  it  will  snap  then  like 
a  rotten  pole,  and  leave  us  to  stumble  helpless  among 
the  slippery  stones  and  the  icy  torrent. 

II.  The  second  movement  of  thought  here,  which 
troubles  and  complicates  this  simple  decision,  as  to 
what  is  the  best  for  Paul  himself,  is  the  hesitation 
springing  from  the  wish  to  help  his  brethren. 

As  we  said,  no  man  has  a  right  to  forget  others  in 
settling  the  question  whether  he  would  live  or  dioe 
We  see  the  Apostle  here  brought  to  a  stand  by  two 


vfl.  21-25]   A  STRAIT  BETWIXT  TWO        225 

conflicting  currents  of  feelings.  For  himself  lie  would 
gladly  go,  for  his  friends'  sake  he  is  drawn  to  the 
opposite  choice.  He  has  'fallen  into  a  place  where 
two  seas  meet,'  and  for  a  minute  or  two  his  will  is 
buffeted  from  side  to  side  by  the  'violence  of  the 
waves.'  The  obscurity  of  his  language,  arising  from 
its  broken  construction,  corresponds  to  the  struggle 
of  his  feelings.  As  the  Revised  Version  has  it,  '  If  to 
live  in  the  flesh — if  this  is  the  fruit  of  my  work,  then 
what  I  shall  choose,  I  wot  not.'  By  which  fragmentary 
sentence,  rightly  representing  as  it  does  the  roughness 
of  the  Greek,  we  understand  him  to  mean  that  if  living 
on  in  this  life  is  the  condition  of  his  gaining  fruit  from 
his  toil,  then  he  has  to  check  the  rising  wish,  and  is 
hindered  from  decisive  preference  either  way.  Both 
motives  act  upon  him,  one  drawing  him  deathward, 
the  other  holding  him  firmly  here.  He  is  in  a  dilemma, 
pinned  in,  as  it  were,  between  the  two  opposing  pres- 
sures. On  the  one  hand  he  has  the  desire  (not '  a  desire,' 
as  the  English  Bible  has  it,  as  if  it  were  but  one  among 
many)  turned  towards  departing  to  be  with  Christ; 
but  on  the  other,  he  knows  that  his  remaining  here  is 
for  the  present  all  but  indispensable  for  the  immature 
faith  of  the  churches  which  he  has  founded.  So  he 
stands  in  doubt  for  a  moment,  and  the  picture  of  his 
hesitation  may  well  be  studied  by  us. 

Such  a  reason  for  wishing  to  die  in  conflict  with  such 
a  reason  for  wishing  to  live,  is  as  noble  as  it  is  rare, 
and,  thank  God,  as  imitable  as  it  is  noble. 

Notice  the  aspect  which  death  wore  to  his  faith.  He 
speaks  of  it  as  'departing,'  a  metaphor  which  does  not, 
like  many  of  the  flattering  appellations  which  men 
give  that  last  enemy,  reveal  a  quaking  dread  which 
cannot  bear  to  look  him  in  bis  ashen,  pale  face.    Paul 

P 


226  PHILIPPIANS  [ch.  i. 

calls  him  gentle  names,  because  he  fears  him  not  at  all. 
To  him  all  the  dreadfulness,  the  mystery,  the  pain  and 
the  solitude  have  melted  away,  and  death  has  become 
a  mere  change  of  place.  The  word  literally  means  to 
unloose,  and  is  employed  to  express  pulling  up  the  tent- 
pegs  of  a  shifting  encampment,  or  drawing  up  the 
anchor  of  a  ship.  In  either  case  the  image  is  simplj^ 
that  of  removal.  It  is  but  striking  the  earthly  house 
of  this  tent ;  it  is  but  one  more  day's  march,  of  which 
we  have  had  many  already,  though  this  is  over  Jordan. 
It  is  but  the  last  day's  journey,  and  to-morrow  there 
will  be  no  packing  up  in  the  morning  and  resuming 
our  weary  tramp,  but  we  shall  be  at  home,  and  go  no 
more  out.  So  has  the  awful  thing  at  the  end  dwindled, 
and  the  brighter  and  greater  the  land  behind  it  shines, 
the  smaller  does  it  appear. 

The  Apostle  thinks  little  of  dying  because  he  thinks 
so  much  of  what  comes  after.  Who  is  afraid  of  a  brief 
journey  if  a  meeting  with  dear  friends  long  lost  is  at 
the  end  of  it?  The  narrow  avenue  seems  short,  and 
its  roughness  and  darkness  are  nothing,  because  Jesus 
Christ  stands  with  outstretched  arms  at  the  other 
end,  beckoning  us  to  Himself,  as  mothers  teach  their 
children  to  walk.  Whosoever  is  sure  that  he  will  be 
with  Christ  can  afford  to  smile  at  death,  and  call  it  but 
a  shifting  of  place.  And  whosoever  feels  the  desire  to 
be  with  Christ  will  not  shrink  from  the  means  by  which 
that  desire  is  fulfilled,  with  the  agony  of  revulsion 
that  it  excites  in  many  an  imagination.  It  will  always 
be  solemn,  and  its  physical  accompaniments  of  pain 
and  struggle  will  always  be  more  or  less  of  a  terror, 
and  the  parting,  even  for  a  time,  from  our  dear  ones, 
will  always  be  loss,  but  nevertheless  if  we  see  Christ 
across  the  gulf,  and  know  that  one  struggle  more  and 


vs.  21-25]   A  STRAIT  BETWIXT  TWO        227 

we  shall  clasp  Him  with  'inseparable  hands  with  joy 
and  bliss  in  over  measure  for  ever,'  we  shall  not  dread 
the  leap. 

One  thought  about  the  future  should  fill  our  minds, 
as  it  did  Paul's,  that  it  is  to  be  with  Christ.  How 
different  that  nobly  simple  expectation,  resolving  all 
bliss  into  the  one  element,  is  from  the  morbid  curiosity 
as  to  details,  which  vulgarises  and  weakens  so  much 
of  even  devout  anticipation  of  the  future.  To  us  as  to 
him  Heaven  should  be  Christ,  and  Christ  should  be 
Heaven.  All  the  rest  is  but  accident.  Golden  harps 
and  crowns,  and  hidden  manna  and  white  robes  and 
thrones,  and  all  the  other  representations,  are  but 
symbols  of  the  blessedness  of  union  with  Him,  or  con- 
sequences of  it.  Immortal  life  and  growth  in  perfection, 
both  of  mind  and  heart,  and  the  cessation  of  all  that 
disturbs,  and  our  investiture  with  glory  and  honour, 
flung  around  our  poor  natures  like  a  royal  robe  over 
a  naked  body,  are  all  but  the  many-sided  brightnesses 
that  pour  out  from  Him,  and  bathe  in  their  rainbowed 
light  those  who  are  with  Him. 

To  be  with  Christ  is  all  we  need.  For  the  loving 
heart  to  be  near  Him  is  enough. 

♦  I  shall  clasp  thee  again,  O  soul  of  my  soul. 
And  with  God  be  the  rest.' 

Let  us  not  fritter  away  our  imaginations  and  our  hopes 
on  the  subordinate  and  non-essential  accompaniments, 
but  concentrate  all  their  energy  on  the  one  central 
thought.  Let  us  not  lose  this  gracious  image  in  a 
maze  of  symbols,  that,  though  precious,  are  secondary. 
Let  us  not  inquire,  with  curiosity  that  will  find  no 
answer,  about  the  unrevealed  wonders  and  staggering 
mysteries  of  that  transcendent  thought,  life  everlast" 


228  PHILIPPIANS  [ch.i. 

ing.  Let  us  not  acquire  the  habit  of  thinking  of  the 
future  as  the  perfecting  of  our  humanity,  without 
connecting  all  our  speculations  with  Him,  whose 
presence  will  be  all  of  heaven  to  us  all.  But  let  us 
keep  His  serene  figure  ever  clear  before  our  imagina- 
tions in  all  the  blaze  of  the  light,  and  try  to  feed  our 
hopes  and  stay  our  hearts  on  this  aspect  of  heavenly 
blessedness  as  the  all-embracing  one,  that  all,  each  for 
himself,  shall  be  for  ever  conscious  of  Christ's  loving 
presence,  and  of  the  closest  union  with  Him,  a  union 
in  comparison  with  which  the  dearest  and  sacredest 
blendings  of  heart  with  heart  and  life  with  life  are 
cold  and  distant.  For  the  clearness  of  our  hope  the 
fewer  the  details  the  better :  for  the  willingness  with 
which  we  turn  from  life  and  face  the  inevitable  end, 
it  is  very  important  that  we  should  have  that  one 
thought  disengaged  from  all  others.  The  one  full 
moon,  which  dims  all  the  stars,  draws  the  tides  after 
it.  These  lesser  lights  may  gem  the  darkness,  and 
dart  down  white  shafts  of  brilliance  in  quivering 
reflections  on  the  waves,  but  they  have  no  power  to 
move  their  mass.  It  is  Christ  and  Christ  only  who 
draws  us  across  the  gulf  to  be  with  Him,  and  reduces 
death  to  a  mere  shifting  of  our  encampment. 

This  is  a  noble  and  worthy  reason  for  wishing  to 
die ;  not  because  Paul  is  disappointed  and  sick  of  life, 
not  because  he  is  weighed  down  with  sorrow,  or  pain, 
or  loss,  or  toil,  but  because  he  would  like  to  be  with 
his  Master.  He  is  no  morbid  sentimentalist,  he  is 
cherishing  no  unwholesome  longing,  he  is  not  weary 
of  work,  he  indulges  in  no  hysterical  raptures  of 
desire.  What  an  eloquent  simplicity  is  in  that  quiet 
*  very  far  better ! '  It  goes  straight  to  one's  heart,  and 
says    more    than    paragraphs    of   falsetto  yearnings. 


VB.  21-25]  A  STRAIT  BETWIXT  TWO         229 

There  is  nothing  in  such  a  wish  to  die,  based  on  such 
a  reason,  that  the  most  manly  and  wholesome  piety 
need  be  ashamed  of.    It  is  a  pattern  for  us  all. 

The  attraction  of  life  contends  with  the  attraction 
of  heaven  in  these  verses.  That  is  a  conflict  which 
many  good  men  know  something  of,  but  which  does 
not  take  the  shape  with  many  of  us  which  it  assumed 
with  Paul.  Drawn,  as  he  is,  by  the  supreme  desire  of 
close  union  with  his  Master,  for  the  sake  of  which  he 
is  ready  to  depart,  he  is  tugged  back  even  more  strongly 
by  the  thought  that,  if  he  stays  here,  he  can  go  on 
working  and  gaining  results  from  his  labour.  It  does 
not  follow  that  he  did  not  expect  service  if  he  were 
with  Christ.  We  may  be  very  sure  that  Paul's  heaven 
was  no  idle  heaven,  but  one  of  happy  activity  and 
larger  service.  But  he  will  not  be  able  to  help  these 
dear  friends  at  Philippi  and  elsewhere  who  need  him, 
as  he  knows.  So  love  to  them  drags  at  his  skirts,  and 
ties  him  here. 

One  can  scarcely  miss  the  remarkable  contrast  between 
Paul's  *  To  abide  in  the  flesh  is  more  needful  for  you,' 
and  the  saying  of  Paul's  Master  to  people  who  assuredly 
needed  His  presence  more  than  Philippi  needed  Paul's, 
*  It  is  expedient  for  you  that  I  go  away.'  This  is  not 
the  place  to  work  out  the  profound  significance  of 
the  contrast,  and  the  questions  which  it  raises  as  to 
whether  Christ  expected  His  work  to  be  finished  and 
His  helpfulness  ended  by  His  death,  as  Paul  did  by  his. 
It  must  suffice  to  have  suggested  the  comparison. 

Returning  to  our  text,  such  a  reason  for  wishing  to 
die,  held  in  check  and  overcome  by  such  a  reason  for 
wishing  to  live,  is  great  and  noble.  There  are  few  of 
us  who  would  not  own  to  the  mightier  attraction  of 
life ;  but  how  few  of   us  who  feel  that,  for  ourselves 


230  PHILIPPIANS  [ch.  i. 

personally,  if  we  were  free  to  think  only  of  ourselves, 
we  should  be  glad  to  go,  because  we  should  be  closez 
to  Christ,  but  that  we  hesitate  for  the  sake  of  others 
whom  we  think  we  can  help !  Many  of  us  cling  to  life 
with  a  desperate  clutch,  like  some  poor  wretch  pushed 
over  a  precipice  and  trying  to  dig  his  nails  into  the 
rock  as  he  falls.  Some  of  us  cling  to  it  because  we 
dread  what  is  beyond,  and  our  longing  to  live  is  the 
measure  of  our  dread  to  die.  But  Paul  did  not  look 
forward  to  a  thick  darkness  of  judgment,  or  to  nothing- 
ness. He  saw  in  the  darkness  a  great  light,  the  light 
in  the  windows  of  his  Father's  house,  and  yet  he 
turned  willingly  away  to  his  toil  in  the  field,  and  was 
more  than  content  to  drudge  on  as  long  as  he  could 
do  anything  by  his  work.  Blessed  are  they  who  share 
his  desire  to  depart,  and  his  victorious  willingness  to 
stay  here  and  labour !  They  shall  find  that  such  a  life 
in  the  flesh,  too,  is  being  with  Christ. 

III.  Thus  the  stream  of  thought  passes  the  rapids 
and  flows  on  smoothly  to  its  final  phase  of  peaceful 
acquiescence. 

That  is  expressed  very  beautifully  in  the  closing 
verse,  '  Having  this  confidence,  I  know  that  I  shall 
abide  and  continue  with  you  all,  for  your  furtherance 
and  joy  in  faith.'  Self  is  so  entirely  overcome  that  he 
puts  away  his  own  desire  to  enter  into  their  joy,  and 
rejoices  with  them.  He  cannot  yet  have  for  himself 
the  blessedness  which  his  spirit  seeks.  Well,  be  it  so ; 
he  will  stop  here  and  find  a  blessedness  in  seeing  them 
growing  in  confidence  and  knowledge  of  Christ  and  in 
the  gladness  that  comes  from  it.  He  gives  up  the  hope 
of  that  higher  companionship  with  Jesus  which  drew 
him  so  mightily.  Well,  be  it  so ;  he  will  have  com- 
panionship with  his  brethren,  and  'abiding  with  you 


vs.  21-25]   A  STRAIT  BETWIXT  TWO         231 

air  may  haply  find,  even  before  the  day  of  final 
account,  that  to  'visit'  Christ's  little  ones  is  to  visit 
Christ.  Therefore  he  fuses  his  opposing  w^ishes  into 
one.  He  is  no  more  in  a  strait  betvi^ixt  two,  or  unwitting 
what  he  shall  choose.  He  chooses  nothing,  but  accepts 
the  appointment  of  a  higher  wisdom.  There  is  rest 
for  him,  as  for  us,  in  ceasing  from  our  own  wishes,  and 
laying  our  wills  silent  and  passive  at  His  feet. 

The  true  attitude  for  us  in  which  to  face  the  unknown 
future,  with  its  dim  possibilities,  and  especially  the 
supreme  alternative  of  life  or  death,  is  neither  desire 
nor  reluctance,  nor  a  hesitation  compounded  of  both, 
but  trustful  acquiescence.  Such  a  temper  is  far  from 
indifference,  and  as  far  from  agitation.  In  all  things, 
and  most  of  all  in  regard  to  these  matters,  it  is  best 
to  hold  desire  in  equilibrium  till  God  shall  speak. 
Torture  not  yourself  with  hopes  or  fears.  They  make 
us  their  slaves.  Put  your  hand  in  God's  hand,  and 
let  Him  guide  you  as  He  will.  Wishes  are  bad  steers- 
men. We  are  only  at  peace  when  desires  and  dreads 
are,  if  not  extinct,  at  all  events  held  tightly  in.  Best, 
and  wisdom,  and  strength  come  with  acquiescence. 
Let  us  say  with  Richard  Baxter,  in  his  simple,  noble 
words : 

•  Lord,  it  belongs  not  to  my  care 

Whether  I  die  or  live ; 
To  love  and  serve  Thee  is  my  share, 
And  that  Thy  grace  must  give.' 

We  may  learn,  too,  that  we  may  be  quite  sure  that 
we  shall  be  left  here  as  long  as  we  are  needed.  Paul 
knew  that  his  stay  was  needful,  so  be  could  say,  'I 
know  that  I  shall  abide  with  you.'  We  do  not,  but 
we  may  be  sure  that  if  our  stay  i8  needful  we  shall 


232  PHILIPPIANS  [CH.  i. 

abide.  We  are  always  tempted  to  think  ourselves 
indispensable,  but,  thank  God,  nobody  is  necessary. 
There  are  no  irreparable  losses,  hard  as  it  is  to  believe 
it.  We  look  at  our  work,  at  our  families,  our  business, 
our  congregations,  our  subjects  of  study,  and  we  say  to 
ourselves, '  What  will  become  of  them  when  I  am  gone  ? 
Everything  would  fall  to  pieces  if  I  were  withdrawn.' 
Do  not  be  afraid.  Depend  on  it,  you  will  be  left  here 
as  long  as  you  are  wanted.  There  are  no  incomplete 
lives  and  no  premature  removals.  To  the  eye  of  faith 
the  broken  column  in  our  cemeteries  is  a  sentimental 
falsehood.  No  Christian  life  is  broken  short  off  so,  but 
rises  in  a  symmetrical  shaft,  and  its  capital  is  garlanded 
with  amaranthine  flowers  in  heaven.  In  one  sense  all 
our  lives  are  incomplete,  for  they  and  their  issues  are 
above,  out  of  our  sight  here.  In  another  none  are,  for 
we  are  '  immortal  till  our  work  is  done.' 

The  true  attitude,  then,  for  us  is  patient  service  till 
He  withdraws  us  from  the  field.  We  do  not  count  him 
a  diligent  servant  who  is  always  wearying  for  the  hour 
of  leaAdng  off  to  strike.  Be  it  ours  to  labour  where  He 
puts  us,  patiently  waiting  till '  death's  mild  curfew '  sets 
us  free  from  the  long  day's  work,  and  sends  us  home. 

Brethren!  there  are  but  two  theories  of  life;  two 
corresponding  aspects  of  death.  The  one  says, '  To  me 
to  live  is  Christ,  and  to  die  gain ' ;  the  other,  '  To  me  to 
live  is  self,  and  to  die  is  loss  and  despair.'  One  or  other 
must  be  your  choice.    Which  ? 


CITIZENS  OF  HEAVEN 

'Only  let  your  conversation  be  as  it  becometh  the  gospel  of  Christ:  that 
whether  I  come  and  see  you,  or  else  be  absent,  I  may  hear  of  your  affairs,  that  ye 
stand  fast  in  one  spirit,  with  one  mind  striving  together  for  the  faith  of  the 
gospel ;    28.  And  in  nothing  terrified  by  your  adversaries.'— Phil.  i.  27,  28. 

We  read  in  the  Acts  of  the  Apostles  that  Philippi  was 
the  chief  city  of  that  part  of  Macedonia,  and  a  '  colony.' 
Now,  the  connection  between  a  Roman  colony  and 
Rome  was  a  great  deal  closer  than  that  between  an 
English  colony  and  England.  It  was,  in  fact,  a  bit  of 
Rome  on  foreign  soil. 

The  colonists  and  their  children  were  Roman  citizens. 
Their  names  were  enrolled  on  the  lists  of  Roman 
tribes.  They  were  governed  not  by  the  provincial 
authorities,  but  by  their  own  magistrates,  and  the  law 
to  which  they  owed  obedience  was  not  that  of  the 
locality,  but  the  law  of  Rome. 

No  doubt  some  of  the  Philippian  Christians  possessed 
these  privileges.  They  knew  what  it  was  to  live  in  a 
community  to  which  they  were  less  closely  bound  than 
to  the  great  city  beyond  the  sea.  They  were  members 
of  a  mighty  polity,  though  they  had  never  seen  its 
temples  nor  trod  its  streets.  They  lived  in  Philippi, 
but  they  belonged  to  Rome.  Hence  there  is  a  peculiar 
significance  in  the  first  words  of  our  text.  The  render- 
ing, *  conversation,'  was  inadequate  even  when  it  was 
made.  It  has  become  more  so  now.  The  word  then 
meant '  conduct.'  It  now  means  little  more  than  words. 
But  though  the  phrase  may  express  loosely  the 
Apostle's  general  idea,  it  loses  entirely  the  striking 
metaphor  under  which  it  is  couched.  The  Revised 
Version  gives  the  literal  rendering  in  its  margin — 
*  Behave  as  citizens '  —  though  it  adopts  in  its  text  a 

MS 


284  PHILIPPI ANS  [oh.  i. 

rendering  which  disregards  the  figure  in  the  word,  and 
contents  itself  with  the  less  picturesque  and  vivid 
phrase — *  let  your  manner  of  life  be  worthy.'  But  there 
seems  no  reason  for  leaving  out  the  metaphor;  it 
entirely  fits  in  with  the  purpose  of  the  Apostle  and 
with  the  context. 

The  meaning  is,  Play  the  citizen  in  a  manner  worthy 
of  the  Gospel.  Paul  does  not,  of  course,  mean,  Dis- 
charge your  civic  duties  as  Christian  men,  though 
some  Christian  Englishmen  need  that  reminder;  but 
the  city  of  which  these  Philippians  were  citizens  was 
the  heavenly  Jerusalem,  the  metropolis,  the  mother 
city  of  us  all.  He  would  kindle  in  them  the  conscious- 
ness of  belonging  to  another  order  of  things  than  that 
around  them.  He  would  stimulate  their  loyalty  to 
obedience  to  the  city's  laws.  As  the  outlying  colonies 
of  Rome  had  sometimes  entrusted  to  them  the  task  of 
keeping  the  frontiers  and  extending  the  power  of  the 
imperial  city,  so  he  stirs  them  up  to  aggressive  war- 
fare ;  and  as  in  all  their  conflicts  the  little  colony  felt 
that  the  Empire  was  at  its  back,  and  therefore  looked 
undaunted  on  shoals  of  barbarian  foes,  so  he  would 
have  his  friends  at  Philippi  animated  by  lofty  courage, 
and  ever  confident  of  final  victory. 

Such  seems  to  be  a  general  outline  of  these  eager 
exhortations  to  the  citizens  of  heaven  in  this  outlying 
colony  of  earth.  Let  us  think  of  them  briefly  in  order 
now. 

I.  Keep  fresh  the  sense  of  belonging  to  the  mothercity. 

Paul  was  not  only  writing  to  Philippi,  but  from 
Rome,  where  he  might  see  how,  even  in  degenerate 
days,  the  consciousness  of  being  a  Roman  gave  dignity 
to  a  man,  and  how  the  idea  became  almost  a  religion. 
He  would  kindle  a  similar  feeling  in  Christians. 


▼8.27,28]      CITIZENS  OF  HEAVEN  285 

We  do  belong  to  another  polity  or  order  of  things 
than  that  with  which  we  are  connected  by  the  bonds  of 
flesh  and  sense.  Our  true  affinities  are  with  the  mother 
city.  True,  we  are  here  on  earth,  but  far  beyond  the 
blue  waters  is  another  community,  of  which  we  are 
really  members,  and  sometimes  in  calm  weather  we  can 
see,  if  we  climb  to  a  height  above  the  smoke  of  the 
valley  where  we  dwell,  the  faint  outline  of  the  moun- 
tains of  that  other  land,  lying  bathed  in  sunlight  and 
dreamlike  on  the  opal  waves. 

Therefore  it  is  a  great  part  of  Christian  discipline  to 
keep  a  vivid  consciousness  that  there  is  such  an  unseen 
order  of  things  at  present  in  existence.  We  speak 
popularly  of  •  the  future  life,'  and  are  apt  to  forget  that 
it  is  also  the  present  life  to  an  innumerable  company. 
In  fact,  this  film  of  an  earthly  life  floats  in  that  greater 
sphere  which  is  all  around  it,  above,  beneath,  touching 
it  at  every  point. 

It  is,  as  Peter  says,  'ready  to  be  unveiled.'  Yes, 
behind  the  thin  curtain,  through  which  stray  beams  of 
the  brightness  sometimes  shoot,  that  other  order 
stands,  close  to  us,  parted  from  us  by  a  most  slender 
division,  only  a  woven  veil,  no  great  gulf  or  iron 
barrier.  And  before  long  His  hand  will  draw  it  back, 
rattling  with  its  rings  as  it  is  put  aside,  and  there  will 
blaze  out  what  has  always  been,  though  we  saw  it  not. 
It  is  so  close,  so  real,  so  bright,  so  solemn,  that  it  is 
worth  while  to  try  to  feel  its  nearness ;  and  we  are  so 
purblind,  and  such  foolish  slaves  of  mere  sense,  shaping 
our  lives  on  the  legal  maxim  that  things  which  are  non- 
apparent  must  be  treated  as  non-existent,  that  it  needs 
a  constant  effort  not  to  lose  the  feeling  altogether. 

There  is  a  present  connection  between  all  Christian 
men  and  that  heavenly  City.    It  not  merely  exists,  but 


286  PHILIPPIANS  [ch.i. 

we  belong  to  it  in  the  measure  in  which  we  are 
Christians.  All  these  figurative  expressions  about  our 
citizenship  being  in  heaven  and  the  like,  rest  on  the 
simple  fact  that  the  life  of  Christian  men  on  earth  and 
in  heaven  is  fundamentally  the  same.  The  principles 
which  guide,  the  motives  which  sway,  the  tastes  and 
desires,  affections  and  impulses,  the  objects  and  aims, 
are  substantially  one.  A  Christian  man's  true  affinities 
are  with  the  things  not  seen,  and  with  the  persons 
there,  however  his  surface  relationship  knit  him  to  the 
earth.  In  the  degree  in  which  he  is  a  Christian,  he  is 
a  stranger  here  and  a  native  of  the  heavens.  That 
great  City  is,  like  some  of  the  capitals  of  Europe,  built 
on  a  broad  river,  with  the  mass  of  the  metropolis  on 
the  one  bank,  but  a  wide-spreading  suburb  on  the 
other.  As  the  Trastevere  is  to  Rome,  as  Southwark  to 
London,  so  is  earth  to  heaven,  the  bit  of  the  city  on 
the  other  side  the  bridge.  As  Philippi  was  to  Rome, 
so  is  earth  to  heaven,  the  colony  on  the  outskirts  of 
the  empire,  ringed  round  by  barbarians,  and  separated 
by  sounding  seas,  but  keeping  open  its  communications, 
and  one  in  citizenship. 

Be  it  our  care,  then,  to  keep  the  sense  of  that  city 
beyond  the  river  vivid  and  constant.  Amid  the  shows 
and  shams  of  earth  look  ever  onward  to  the  realities, 
*  the  things  which  are^  while  all  else  only  seems  to  be. 
The  things  which  are  seen  are  but  smoke  wreaths, 
floating  for  a  moment  across  space,  and  melting  into 
nothingness  while  we  look.  We  do  not  belong  to  them 
or  to  the  order  of  things  to  which  they  belong.  There 
is  no  kindred  between  us  and  them.  Our  true  relation- 
ships are  elsewhere.  In  this  present  visible  world  all 
other  creatures  find  their  sufficient  and  homelike 
abode.     'Foxes  have  holes,  and  birds  their  roosting- 


V8.27,28]      CITIZENS  OF  HEAVEN  287 

places ' ;  but  man  alone  has  not  where  to  lay  his  head, 
nor  can  he  find  in  all  the  width  of  the  created  universe 
a  place  in  which  and  with  which  he  can  be  satisfied. 
Our  true  habitat  is  elsewhere.  So  let  us  set  our 
thoughts  and  affections  on  things  above.  The  descend- 
ants of  the  original  settlers  in  our  colonies  talk  still  of 
coming  to  England  as  going  '  home,'  though  they  were 
born  in  Australia,  and  have  lived  there  all  their  lives. 
In  like  manner  we  Christian  people  should  keep 
vigorous  in  our  minds  the  thought  that  our  true  home 
is  there  where  we  have  never  been,  and  that  here  we 
are  foreigners  and  wanderers. 

Nor  need  that  feeling  of  detachment  from  the  pre- 
sent sadden  our  spirits,  or  weaken  our  interest  in  the 
things  around  us.  To  recognise  our  separation  from 
the  order  of  things  in  which  we  '  move,'  because  we 
belong  to  that  majestic  unseen  order  in  which  we  really 
•  have  our  being,'  makes  life  great  and  not  small.  It 
clothes  the  present  with  dignity  beyond  what  is  possible 
to  it  if  it  be  not  looked  at  in  the  light  of  its  connection 
with  *  the  regions  beyond.'  From  that  connection  life 
derives  all  its  meaning.  Surely  nothing  can  be  con- 
ceived more  unmeaning,  more  wearisome  in  its 
monotony,  more  tragic  in  its  joy,  more  purposeless  in 
its  efforts,  than  man's  life,  if  the  life  of  sense  and  time 
be  all.  Truly  it  is  'like  a  tale  told  by  an  idiot,  full 
of  sound  and  fury,  signifying  nothing.'  •  The  white 
radiance  of  eternity,'  streaming  through  it  from  above, 
gives  all  its  beauty  to  the  'dome  of  many-coloured 
glass '  which  men  call  life.  They  who  feel  most  their 
connection  with  the  city  which  hath  foundations  should 
be  best  able  to  wring  the  last  drop  of  pure  sweetness 
out  of  all  earthly  joys,  to  understand  the  meaning  of 
all  events,  and  to  be  interested  most  keenly,  because 


238  PHILIPPIANS  [ch.  i. 

most  intelligently  and  most  nobly,  in  the  homeliest  and 
smallest  of  the  tasks  and  concerns  of  the  present. 

So,  in  all  things,  act  as  citizens  of  the  great  Mother 
of  heroes  and  saints  beyond  the  sea.  Ever  feel  that 
you  belong  to  another  order,  and  let  the  thought, 
'  Here  we  have  no  continuing  city,'  be  to  you  not  merely 
the  bitter  lesson  taught  by  the  transiency  of  earthly 
joys  and  treasures  and  loves,  but  the  happy  result  of 
'  seeking  for  the  city  which  hath  the  foundations.' 

II.  Another  exhortation  which  our  text  gives  is.  Live 
by  the  laws  of  the  city. 

The  Philippian  colonists  were  governed  by  the  code 
of  Rome.  Whatever  might  be  the  law  of  the  province 
of  Macedonia,  they  owed  no  obedience  to  it.  So 
Christian  men  are  not  to  be  governed  by  the  maxims 
and  rules  of  conduct  which  prevail  in  the  province, 
but  to  be  governed  from  the  capital.  We  ought  to  get 
from  on-lookers  the  same  character  that  was  given  to 
the  Jews,  that  we  are  *a  people  whose  laws  are 
different  from  all  people  that  be  on  earth,'  and  we 
ought  to  reckon  such  a  character  our  highest  praise. 
Paul  would  have  these  Philippian  Christians  act 
'  worthy  of  the  gospeV    That  is  our  law. 

The  great  good  news  of  God  manifest  in  the  flesh, 
and  of  our  salvation  through  Christ  Jesus,  is  not 
merely  to  be  believed,  but  to  be  obeyed.  The  gospel  is 
not  merely  a  message  of  deliverance,  it  is  also  a  rule 
of  conduct.  It  is  not  merely  theology,  it  is  also 
ethics.  Like  some  of  the  ancient  municipal  charters, 
the  grant  of  privileges  and  proclamation  of  freedom 
is  also  the  sovereign  code  which  imposes  duties  and 
shapes  life.  A  gospel  of  laziness  and  mere  exemption 
from  hell  was  not  Paul's  gospel.  A  gospel  of  doctrines, 
to  be  investigated,  spun  into  a  system  of  theology,  and 


▼8.27,28]      CITIZENS  OF  HEAVEN  280 

accepted  by  the  understanding,  and  there  an  end,  was 
not  Paul's  gospel.  He  believed  that  the  great  facts 
which  he  proclaimed  concerning  the  self -revelation  of 
God  in  Christ  would  unfold  into  a  sovereign  law  of  life 
for  every  true  believer,  and  so  his  one  all-sufficient  pre- 
cept and  standard  of  conduct  are  in  these  simple  words, 
•  worthy  of  the  gospel.* 

That  law  is  all-sufficient.  In  the  truths  which  con- 
stituted Paul's  gospel,  that  is  to  say,  in  the  truths  of 
the  life,  death,  and  resurrection  of  Jesus  Christ,  lies  all 
that  men  need  for  conduct  and  character.  In  Him  wo 
have  the  '  realised  ideal,'  the  flawless  example,  and 
instead  of  a  thousand  precepts,  for  us  all  duty  is 
resolved  into  one — be  like  Christ.  In  Him  we  have  the 
mighty  motive,  powerful  enough  to  overcome  all  forces 
that  would  draw  us  away,  and  like  some  strong  spring 
to  keep  us  in  closest  contact  with  right  and  goodness. 
Instead  of  a  confusing  variety  of  appeals  to  manifold 
motives  of  interest  and  conscience,  and  one  knows  not 
what  beside,  we  have  the  one  all-powerful  appeal,  'If  ye 
love  Me,  keep  My  commandments,*  and  that  draws  all 
the  agitations  and  fluctuations  of  the  soul  after  it,  as  the 
rounded  fulness  of  the  moon  does  the  heaped  waters 
in  the  tidal  wave  that  girdles  the  world.  In  Him  we 
have  all  the  helps  that  weakness  needs,  for  He  Himself 
will  come  and  dwell  with  us  and  in  us,  and  be  our 
righteousness  and  our  strength. 

Live  'worthy  of  the  gospel,'  then.  How  grand  the 
unity  and  simplicity  thus  breathed  into  our  duties  and 
through  our  lives !  All  duties  are  capable  of  reduction 
to  this  one,  and  though  we  shall  still  need  detailed 
instruction  and  specific  precepts,  we  shall  be  set  free 
from  the  pedantry  of  a  small  scrupulous  casuistry, 
which  fetters  men's  limbs  with  microscopic  bands,  and 


240  PHILIPPIANS  [ch.  l 

shall  joyfully  learn  how  much  mightier  and  happier  is 
the  life  which  is  shaped  by  one  fruitful  principle,  than 
that  which  is  hampered  by  a  thousand  regulations. 

Nor  is  such  an  all-comprehensive  precept  a  mere 
toothless  generality.  Let  a  man  try  honestly  to  shape 
his  life  by  it ;  and  he  will  find  soon  enough  how  close 
it  grips  him,  and  how  wide  it  stretches,  and  how  deep 
it  goes.  The  greatest  principles  of  the  gospel  are  to 
be  fitted  to  the  smallest  duties.  Indeed  that  combina- 
tion—great principles  and  small  duties — is  the  secret 
of  all  noble  and  calm  life,  and  nowhere  should  it  be  so 
beautifully  exemplified  as  in  the  life  of  a  Christian 
man.  The  tiny  round  of  the  dew-drop  is  shaped  by  the 
same  laws  that  mould  the  giant  sphere  of  the  largest 
planet.  You  cannot  make  a  map  of  the  poorest  grass- 
field  without  celestial  observations.  The  star  is  not 
too  high  nor  too  brilliant  to  move  before  us  and  guide 
simple  men's  feet  along  their  pilgrimage,  *  Worthy  of 
the  gospel '  is  a  most  practical  and  stringent  law. 

And  it  is  an  exclusive  commandment  too,  shutting 
out  obedience  to  other  codes,  however  common  and 
fashionable  they  may  be.  We  are  governed  from 
home,  and  we  give  no  submission  to  provincial 
authorities.  Never  mind  what  people  say  about  you, 
nor  what  may  be  the  maxims  and  ways  of  men  around 
you.  These  are  no  guides  for  you.  Public  opinion 
(which  only  means  for  most  of  us  the  hasty  judg- 
ments of  the  half-dozen  people  who  happen  to  be 
nearest  us),  use  and  wont,  the  customs  of  our  set,  the 
notions  of  the  world  about  duty,  with  all  these  we 
have  nothing  to  do.  The  censures  or  the  praise  of 
men  need  not  move  us.  We  report  to  headquarters, 
and  subordinates'  estimate  need  be  nothing  to  us. 
Let  us  then  say,  'With  me  it  is  a  very  small  matter 


vs.  27, 28]      CITIZENS  OF  HEAVEN  241 

that  I  should  be  judged  of  men's  judgment.  He  that 
judgeth  me  is  the  Lord.'  When  we  may  be  mis- 
understood or  harshly  dealt  with,  let  us  lift  our  eyes 
to  the  lofty  seat  where  the  Emperor  sits,  and  remove 
ourselves  from  men's  sentences  by  our  '  appeal  unto 
Caesar';  and,  in  all  varieties  of  circumstances  and  duty, 
let  us  take  the  Gospel  which  is  the  record  of  Christ's 
life,  death,  and  character,  for  our  only  law,  and  labour 
that,  whatever  others  may  think  of  us,  we  •  may  be 
well  pleasing  to  Him.' 

III.  Further,  our  text  bids  the  colonists  fight  for 
the  advance  of  the  dominions  of  the  City. 

Like  the  armed  colonists  whom  Russia  and  other 
empires  had  on  their  frontier,  who  received  their  bits 
of  land  on  condition  of  holding  the  border  against  the 
enemy,  and  pushing  it  forward  a  league  or  two  when 
possible.  Christian  men  are  set  down  in  their  places  to 
be  '  wardens  of  the  marches,'  citizen  soldiers  who  hold 
their  homesteads  on  a  military  tenure,  and  are  to  •  strive 
together  for  the  faith  of  the  gospel.' 

There  is  no  space  here  and  now  to  go  into  details  of 
the  exposition  of  this  part  of  our  text.  Enough  to 
say  in  brief  that  we  are  here  exhorted  to  'stand  fast'; 
that  is,  as  it  were,  the  defensive  side  of  our  warfare, 
maintaining  our  ground  and  repelling  all  assaults  ;  that 
this  successful  resistance  is  to  be  '  in  one  spirit,'  inas- 
much as  all  resistance  depends  on  our  poor  feeble 
spirits  being  ingrafted  and  rooted  in  God's  Spirit,  in 
vital  union  with  whom  we  may  be  knit  together  into  a 
unity  which  shall  oppose  a  granite  breakwater  to  the 
onrushing  tide  of  opposition;  that  in  addition  to  the 
unmoved  resistance  which  will  not  yield  an  inch  of  the 
sacred  soil  to  the  enemy,  we  are  to  carry  the  war 
onwards,  and,  not  content  with  holding  our  own,  are 

Q 


242  PHILIPPIANS  [ch.  i. 

with  one  mind  to  strive  together  for  the  faith  of  the 
gospel.  There  is  to  be  discipline,  then,  and  compact 
organisation,  like  that  of  the  legions  whom  Paul,  from 
his  prison  among  the  Praetorian  guards,  had  often  seen 
shining  in  steel,  moving  like  a  machine,  grim,  irre- 
sistible. The  cause  for  which  we  are  to  fight  is  the 
faith  of  the  gospel,  an  expression  which  almost  seems 
to  justify  the  opinion  that  •  the  faith  *  here  means,  as 
it  does  in  later  usage,  the  sum  and  substance  of  that 
which  is  believed.  But  even  here  the  word  may  have 
its  usual  meaning  of  the  subjective  act  of  trust  in  the 
gospel,  and  the  thought  may  be  that  we  are  unitedly 
to  fight  for  its  growing  power  in  our  own  hearts  and  in 
the  hearts  of  others.  In  any  case,  the  idea  is  plainly 
here  that  Christian  men  are  set  down  in  the  world, 
like  the  frontier  guard,  to  push  the  conquests  of  the 
empire,  and  to  win  more  ground  for  their  King. 

Such  work  is  ever  needed,  never  more  needed  than 
now.  In  this  day  when  a  wave  of  unbelief  seems 
passing  over  society,  when  material  comfort  and 
worldly  prosperity  are  so  dazzlingly  attractive  to  so 
many,  the  solemn  duty  is  laid  upon  us  with  even  more 
than  usual  emphasis,  and  we  are  called  upon  to  feel 
more  than  ever  the  oneness  of  all  true  Christians,  and 
to  close  up  our  ranks  for  the  fight.  All  this  can  only 
be  done  after  we  have  obeyed  the  other  injunctions  of 
this  text.  The  degree  in  which  we  feel  that  we  belong 
to  another  order  of  things  than  this  around  us,  and  the 
degree  in  which  we  live  by  the  Imperial  laws,  will 
determine  the  degree  in  which  we  can  fight  with  vigour 
for  the  growth  of  the  dominion  of  the  City.  Be  it 
ours  to  cherish  the  vivid  consciousness  that  we  are  here 
dwelling  not  in  the  cities  of  the  Canaanites,  but,  like 
the  father  of  the  faithful,  in  tents  pitched  at  their 


vs.  27, 28]      CITIZENS  OF  HEAVEN  248 

gates,  nomads  in  the  midst  of  a  civic  life  to  which  we 
do  not  belong,  in  order  that  we  may  breathe  a  hallow- 
ing influence  through  it,  and  win  hearts  to  the  love  of 
Him  whom  to  imitate  is  perfection,  whom  to  serve  is 
freedom. 

lY.  The  last  exhortation  to  the  colonists  is,  Be  sure 
of  victory. 

'  In  nothing  terrified  by  your  adversaries,'  says  Paul. 
He  uses  a  very  vivid,  and  some  people  might  think, 
a  very  vulgar  metaphor  here.  The  word  rendered 
terrified  properly  refers  to  a  horse  shying  or  plunging 
at  some  object.  It  is  generally  things  half  seen  and 
mistaken  for  something  more  dreadful  than  themselves 
that  make  horses  shy ;  and  it  is  usually  a  half -look  at 
adversaries,  and  a  mistaken  estimate  of  their  strength, 
that  make  Christians  afraid.  Go  up  to  your  fears  and 
speak  to  them,  and  as  ghosts  are  said  to  do,  they  will 
generally  fade  away.  So  we  may  go  into  the  battle, 
as  the  rash  French  minister  said  he  did  into  the  Franco- 
German  war,  *  with  a  light  heart,'  and  that  for  good 
reasons.  We  have  no  reason  to  fear  for  ourselves. 
We  have  no  reason  to  fear  for  the  ark  of  God.  We 
have  no  reason  to  fear  for  the  growth  of  Christianity 
in  the  world.  Many  good  men  in  this  time  seem  to  be 
getting  half-ashamed  of  the  gospel,  and  some  preachers 
are  preaching  it  in  words  which  sound  like  an  apology 
rather  than  a  creed.  Do  not  let  us  allow  the  enemy  to 
overpower  our  imaginations  in  that  fashion.  Do  not 
let  us  fight  as  if  we  expected  to  be  beaten,  always 
casting  our  eyes  over  our  shoulders,  even  while  we  are 
advancing,  to  make  sure  of  our  retreat,  but  let  us  trust 
our  gospel,  and  trust  our  King,  and  let  us  take  to  heart 
the  old  admonition,  *  Lift  up  thy  voice  with  strength ; 
lift  it  up,  be  not  afraid.' 


244  PHILIPPIANS  [cH.li. 

Such  courage  is  a  prophecy  of  victory.  Such  courage 
is  -  based  upon  a  sure  hope.  *  Our  citizenship  is  in 
heaven,  from  whence  also  "we  look  for  the  Lord  Jesus 
as  Saviour.*  The  little  outlying  colony  in  this  far-off 
edge  of  the  empire  is  ringed  about  by  wide- stretching 
hosts  of  dusky  barbarians.  Far  as  the  eye  can  reach 
their  myriads  cover  the  land,  and  the  watchers  from 
the  ramparts  might  well  be  dismayed  if  they  had 
only  their  own  resources  to  depend  on.  But  they 
know  that  the  Emperor  in  his  progress  will  come  to 
this  sorely  beset  outpost,  and  their  eyes  are  fixed  on 
the  pass  in  the  hills  where  they  expect  to  see  the 
waving  banners  and  the  gleaming  spears.  Soon,  like 
our  countrymen  in  Lucknow,  they  will  hear  the 
music  and  the  shouts  that  tell  that  He  is  at  hand. 
Then  ^hen  He  comes.  He  will  raise  the  siege  and 
scatter  all  the  enemies  as  the  chaff  of  the  threshing- 
floor,  and  the  colonists  who  held  the  post  will  go  with 
Him  to  the  land  which  they  have  never  seen,  but  which 
is  their  home,  and  will,  with  the  Victor,  sweep  in 
triumph  '  through  the  gates  into  the  city.* 


A  PLEA  FOR  UNITY 

•If  there  la  therefore  any  comfort  in  Christ,- If  any  consolation  of  love,  if  any 
fellowship  of  the  Spirit,  if  any  tender  mercies  and  compassions,  2.  Fulfil  yo  my 
joy,  that  yo  be  of  the  same  mind,  having  the  same  love,  being  of  one  accord, 
of  one  mind ;  3.  Doing  nothing  through  faction  or  through  vainglory,  but  in  lovjr- 
lincss  of  mind  each  counting  other  better'Lhan  himself  ;  4.  Not  looking  each  of  you 
to  bis  own  things,  but  each  of  you  also  to  tho  things  of  others,'— Phil.  ii.  1-4  (R.V.). 

Th^RE  was  much  in  the  state  of  the  Philippian  church 
which  filled  Paul's  heart  with  thankfulness,  and  nothing 
which  drew  forth  his  censures,  but  these  verses,  with 
their  extraordinary  energy  of  pleading,  seem  to  hint 


vs.  1-4]  A  PLEA  FOR  UNITY  245 

that  there  was  some  defect  in  the  unity  of  heart  and 
mind  of  members  of  the  community.  It  did  not 
amount  to  discord,  but  the  concord  was  not  as  full  as 
it  might  have  been.  There  is  another  hint  pointing 
in  the  same  direction  in  the  appeal  to  Paul's  true  yoke- 
fellow, in  chapter  iv.,  to  help  two  good  women  who, 
though  they  had  laboured  much  in  the  gospel,  had  not 
managed  to  keep  *  of  the  same  mind  in  the  Lord,'  and 
there  is  perhaps  a  still  further  indication  that  Paul's 
sensitive  heart  was  conscious  of  the  beginnings  of 
strife  in  the  air,  in  the  remarkable  emphasis  with 
which,  at  the  very  outset  of  the  letter,  he  over  and 
over  again  pours  out  his  confidence  and  affection  on 
them  '  all,'  as  if  aware  of  some  incipient  rifts  in  their 
brotherhood.  There  are  always  forces  at  work  which 
tend  to  part  the  most  closely  knit  unities  even  when 
these  are  consecrated  by  Christian  faith.  Where  there 
are  no  dogmatical  grounds  of  discord,  nor  any  open 
alienation,  there  may  still  be  the  beginnings  of  separa- 
tion, and  a  chill  breeze  may  be  felt  even  when  the  sun 
is  shining  with  summer  warmth.  Wasps  are  attracted 
by  the  ripest  fruit. 

The  words  of  our  text  present  no  special  difficulty, 
and  bring  before  us  a  well-worn  subject,  but  it  has  at 
least  this  element  of  interest,  that  it  grips  very  tightly 
the  deepest  things  in  Christian  life,  and  that  none  of 
us  can  truly  say  that  we  do  not  need  to  listen  to  Paul's 
pleading  voice.  We  may  notice  the  general  division 
of  his  thoughts  in  these  words,  in  that  he  puts  first  the 
heart-touching  motives  for  listening  to  his  appeal, 
next  describes  with  the  exuberance  of  earnestness  the 
fair  ideal  of  unity  to  which  he  exhorts,  and  finally 
touches  on  the  hindrances  to  its  realisation,  and  the 
victorious  powers  which  will  overcome  these. 


246  PHILIPPIANS  [oh.  ii. 

I.  The  motives  and  bonds  of  Christian  unity. 

It  is  not  a  pedantic  dissection  (and  vivisection)  of 
the  Apostle's  earnest  words,  if  we  point  out  that  they 
fall  into  four  clauses,  of  which  the  first  and  third 
(*  any  comfort  in  Christ,  any  fellowship  of  the  Spirit ') 
urge  the  objective  facts  of  Christian  revelation,  and 
the  second  and  fourth  ('  any  consolation  of  love,  any 
tender  mercies  and  compassions ')  put  emphasis  on  the 
subjective  emotions  of  Christian  experience.  We  may 
lay  the  warmth  of  all  of  these  on  our  own  hearts,  and 
shall  find  that  these  hearts  will  be  drawn  into  the 
blessedness  of  Christian  unity  in  the  precise  measure 
in  which  they  are  affected  by  them. 

As  to  the  first  of  them,  it  may  be  suggested  that 
here,  as  elsewhere  in  the  New  Testament,  the  true  idea 
of  the  word  rendered  '  comfort '  is  rather  •  exhortation.* 
The  Apostle  is  probably  not  so  much  pointing  to  the 
consolations  for  trouble  which  come  from  Jesus,  as  to 
the  stimulus  to  unity  which  flows  from  Him.  It  would 
rather  weaken  the  force  of  Paul's  appeal,  if  the  two 
former  grounds  of  it  were  so  nearly  identical  as  they 
are,  if  the  one  is  based  upon  *  comfort '  and  the  other  on 
'consolation.'  The  Apostle  is  true  to  his  dominant 
belief,  that  in  Jesus  Christ  there  lies,  and  from  Him 
flows,  the  sovereign  exhortation  that  rouses  men  to 
•whatsoever  things  are  lovely  and  of  good  report.* 
In  Him  we  shall  find  in  the  measure  in  which  we  are 
in  Him,  the  most  persuasive  of  all  exhortations  to 
unity,  and  the  most  omnipotent  of  all  powers  to  en- 
force it.  Shall  we  not  be  glad  to  be  in  the  flock  of  the 
Good  Shepherd,  and  to  preserve  the  oneness  which  He 
gave  His  life  to  establish  ?  Can  we  live  in  Him,  and 
not  share  His  love  for  His  sheep  ?  Surely  those  who 
have  felt  the  benediction  of  His  breath  on  their  fore- 


Ti.  1-4]  A  PLEA  FOR  UNITY  247 

heads  when  He  prayed  'that  they  may  all  be  one; 
even  as  Thou,  Father,  art  in  Me  and  I  in  Thee,'  cannot 
but  do  what  is  in  them  to  fulfil  that  prayer,  and  to 
bring  a  little  nearer  the  realisation  of  their  Lord's 
purpose  in  it,  *  that  the  world  may  believe  that  Thou 
didst  send  Me.'  Surely  if  we  lay  to  heart,  and  enter 
into  sympathy  with,  the  whole  life  and  death  of  Jesus 
Christ,  we  shall  not  fail  to  feel  the  dynamic  power 
fusing  us  together,  nor  fail  to  catch  the  exhortation  to 
unity  which  comes  from  the  lips  that  said,  '  I  am  the 
vine,  ye  are  the  branches.' 

The  Apostle  next  bases  his  appeal  for  unity  on  the 
experiences  of  the  Philippian  Christians,  and  on  their 
memories  of  the  comfort  which  they  have  tasted  in  the 
exercise  of  mutual  love.  Our  hearts  find  it  hard  to 
answer  the  question  whether  they  are  more  blessed 
when  their  love  passes  out  from  them  in  a  warm 
stream  to  others,  or  when  the  love  of  others  pours 
into  them.  To  love  and  to  be  loved  equally  elevate 
courage,  and  brace  the  weakest  for  calm  endurance 
and  high  deeds.  The  man  who  loves  and  knows  that  he 
is  loved  will  be  a  hero.  It  must  always  seem  strange 
and  inexplicable  that  a  heart  which  has  known  the 
enlargement  and  joy  of  love  given  and  received, 
should  ever  fall  so  far  beneath  itself  as  to  be  narrowed 
and  troubled  by  nourishing  feelings  of  separation  and 
alienation  from  those  whom  it  might  have  gathered 
into  its  embrace,  and  thereby  communicated,  and  in 
communicating  acquired,  courage  and  strength.  We 
have  all  known  the  comfort  of  love;  should  it  not  impel 
us  to  live  in  '  the  unity  of  the  spirit  and  the  bond  of 
peace '  ?  Men  around  us  are  meant  to  be  our  helpers,  . 
and  to  be  helped  by  us,  and  the  one  way  to  secure  both 
is  to  walk  in  love,  as  Christ  also  hath  loved  us. 


248  PHILIPPIANS  [ch.  ii. 

But  Paul  has  still  further  heart-melting  motives  to 
urge.  He  turns  the  Philippians'  thoughts  to  their  fel- 
lowship in  the  Spirit.  All  believers  have  been  made 
to  drink  into  one  spirit,  and  in  that  common  partici- 
pation in  the  same  supernatural  life  they  partake  of 
a  oneness,  which  renders  any  clefts  or  divisions  un- 
natural, and  contradictory  of  the  deepest  truths  of 
their  experience.  The  branch  can  no  more  shiver 
itself  off  from  the  tree,  or  keep  the  life  sap  enclosed 
within  itself,  than  one  possessor  of  the  common  gift 
of  the  Spirit  can  separate  himself  from  the  others 
who  share  it.  We  are  one  in  Him  ;  let  us  be  one  in 
heart  and  mind.  The  final  appeal  is  connected  with 
the  preceding,  inasmuch  as  it  lays  emphasis  on  the 
emotions  which  flow  from  the  one  life  common  to  all 
believers.  That  participation  in  the  Spirit  naturally 
leads  in  each  participant  to  '  tender  mercies  and  com- 
passions'  directed  to  all  sharers  in  it.  The  very 
mark  of  truly  possessing  the  Spirit's  life  is  a  nature 
full  of  tenderness  and  swift  to  pity,  and  they  who 
have  experienced  the  heaven  on  earth  of  such  emotions 
should  need  no  other  motive  than  the  memory  of  its 
blessedness,  to  send  them  out  among  their  brethren, 
and  even  into  a  hostile  world,  as  the  apostles  of  love, 
the  bearers  of  tender  mercies,  and  the  messengers 
of  pity. 

II.  The  fair  ideal  which  would  complete  the  Apostle's 

joy- 

We  may  gather  from  the  rich  abundance  of  motives 
which  the  Apostle  suggests  before  he  comes  to  present 
his  exhortation,  that  he  suspected  the  existence  of 
some  tendencies  in  the  opposite  direction  in  Philippi, 
and  possibly  the  same  conclusion  may  be  drawn  from 


vs.  1-4]  A  PLEA  FOR  UNITY  249 

the  exuberance  of  the  exhortation  itself,  and  from  its 
preceding  the  dehortation  which  follows.  He  does 
not  scold,  he  scarcely  even  rebukes,  but  he  begins  by 
trying  to  melt  away  any  light  frost  that  had  crept 
over  the  warmth  of  the  Philippians'  love ;  and  having 
made  that  preparation,  he  sets  before  them  with  a 
fulness  which  would  be  tautological  but  for  the 
earnestness  that  throbs  in  it,  the  ideal  of  unity,  and 
presses  it  upon  them  still  more  meltingly,  by  telling 
them  that  their  realisation  of  it  will  be  the  completion 
of  his  joy.  The  main  injunction  is  'that  ye  be  of  the 
same  mind,'  and  that  is  followed  by  three  clauses  which 
are  all  but  exactly  synonymous  with  it,  '  having  the 
same  love,  being  of  one  accord,  of  one  mind.'  The 
resemblance  of  the  latter  clause  to  the  main  exhorta- 
tion is  still  more  complete,  if  we  read  with  Revised 
Version  (margin)  '  of  the  same  mind,'  but  in  any  case 
the  exhortations  are  all  practically  the  same.  The 
unity  which  Paul  would  fain  see,  is  far  deeper  and 
more  vital  than  mere  unanimity  of  opinion,  or  identity 
of  polity,  or  co-operation  in  practice.  The  clauses 
which  expand  it  guard  us  against  the  mistake  of 
thinking  that  intellectual  or  practical  oneness  is  all 
that  is  meant  by  Christian  unity.  They  are  '  of  the 
same  mind,'  who  have  the  same  wishes,  aims,  outlooks, 
the  same  hopes  and  fears,  and  who  are  one  in  the 
depths  of  their  being.  They  have  '  the  same  love,'  all 
similarly  loving  and  being  loved,  the  same  emotion  fill- 
ing each  heart.  They  are  united  in  soul,  or  *  with  accor- 
dant souls '  having,  and  knowing  that  they  have  them, 
akin,  allied  to  one  another,  moving  to  a  common  end, 
and  aware  of  their  oneness.  The  unity  which  Christian 
people  have  hitherto  reached  is  at  its  best  but  a  small 


250  PHILIPPIANS  [oh.  ii. 

arc  of  the  great  circle  which  the  Apostle  drew,  and 
none  of  us  can  read  these  fervid  words  without  shame. 
His  joy  is  not  yet  fulfilled. 

That  exhortation  to  be  '  of  the  same  mind,'  not  only 
points  to  a  deep  and  vital  unity,  but  suggests  that  the 
ground  of  the  unity  is  to  be  found  without  us,  in  the 
common  direction  of  our  '  minds,'  which  means  far 
more  than  popular  phraseology  means  by  it,  to  an 
external  object.  It  is  having  our  hearts  directed  to 
Christ  that  makes  us  one.  He  is  the  bond  and  centre 
of  unity.  We  have  just  said  that  the  object  is  external, 
but  that  has  to  be  taken  with  a  modification,  for  the 
true  basis  of  unity  is  the  common  possession  of  '  Christ 
in  us.'  It  is  when  we  have  this  mind  in  us  '  which  was 
also  in  Christ  Jesus,'  that  we  have  '  the  same  mind ' 
one  with  another. 

The  very  keynote  of  the  letter  is  joy,  as  may  be  seen 
by  a  glance  over  it.  He  joys  and  rejoices  with  them 
all,  but  his  cup  is  not  quite  full.  One  more  precious 
drop  is  needed  to  make  it  run  over.  Probably  the 
coldness  which  he  had  heard  of  between  Euodias  and 
Syntyche  had  troubled  him,  and  if  he  could  be  sure  of 
the  Philippians'  mutual  love  he  would  rejoice  in  his 
prison.  We  cannot  tell  whether  that  loving  and  care- 
ful heart  is  still  aware  of  the  fortunes  of  the  Church, 
but  we  know  of  a  more  loving  and  careful  heart 
which  is,  and  we  cannot  but  believe  that  the  aliena- 
tions and  discords  of  His  professed  followers  bring 
some  shadow  over  the  joy  of  Christ.  Do  we  not  hear 
His  voice  again  asking, '  what  was  it  that  you  disputed 
among  yourselves  by  the  way  ? '  and  must  we  not,  like 
the  disciples,  '  hold  our  peace '  when  that  question  is 
asked  ?  May  we  not  hear  a  voice  sweeter  in  its 
cadence,  and  more    melting    in  its   tenderness  than 


Ys.  1-4]  A  PLEA  FOR  UNITY  351 

Paul's,  saying  to  ub  *  Fulfil  ye  My  joy  that  ye  be  of  the 
same  mind.' 

III.  The  hindrances  and  helps  to  being  of  the  same 
mind. 

The  original  has  no  verb  in  front  of  'nothing'  in 
verse  3,  and  it  seems  better  to  supply  the  one  which 
has  been  so  frequently  used  in  the  preceding  exhorta- 
tion than  •  doing,'  which  carries  us  too  abruptly  into 
the  outer  region  of  action.  Paul  indicates  two  main 
hindrances  to  being  of  the  same  mind,  namely,  faction 
and  vainglory  on  the  one  hand,  and  self-absorption 
on  the  other,  and  opposed  to  each  the  tone  of  mind 
which  is  its  best  conqueror.  Faction  and  vainglory 
are  best  defeated  by  humility  and  unselfishness.  As 
to  the  former,  the  love  of  making  or  heading  little 
cliques  in  religion  or  politics  or  society,  has  of  tenest  its 
roots  in  nothing  loftier  than  vanity  or  pride.  Many  a 
man  who  poses  as  guided  by  staunch  adherence  to 
conviction  is  really  impelled  only  by  a  wish  to  make 
himself  notorious  as  a  leader,  and  loves  to  talk  of 
'  those  with  whom  I  act.'  There  is  a  strong  admixture 
of  a  too  lofty  estimate  of  self  in  most  of  the  disagree- 
ments of  Christian  people.  They  expect  more  deference 
than  they  get,  or  their  judgment  is  not  taken  as  law, 
or  their  place  is  not  so  high  as  they  think  is  their  due, 
or  in  a  hundred  different  ways  self-love  is  wounded, 
and  self-esteem  is  inflamed.  All  this  is  true  in  reference 
to  the  smaller  communities  of  congregations,  and  with 
the  necessary  modifications  it  is  quite  as  true  in 
reference  to  the  larger  aggregations  which  we  call 
churches  or  denominations.  If  all  in  their  work  that 
is  directly  due  to  faction  and  vainglory  were  struck 
out  there  would  be  great  gaps  in  their  activities,  and 
many  a  flourishing  scheme  would  fall  dead. 


252  PHILIPPIANS  [ch.ii. 

The  cure  for  all  these  evils  is  lowliness  of  mind.  That 
is  a  Christian  word.  Used  by  Greek  thinkers,  it  meant 
abjectness;  and  it  is  one  conspicuous  instance  of  the 
change  effected  in  morals  by  Christian  teaching  that  it 
has  become  the  name  of  a  virtue.  We  are  to  dwell 
not  on  our  gifts  but  on  our  imperfections,  and  if  we 
judge  ourselves  with  constant  reference  to  the  standard 
in  Christ's  life,  we  shall  need  little  more  to  bring  us  to 
our  knees  in  true  lowliness  of  mind.  The  man  who 
has  been  forgiven  so  many  talents  will  not  be  in  a 
hurry  to  take  his  brother  by  the  throat  and  leave  the 
marks  of  his  fingers  for  tenpence. 

Christian  unity  is  further  broken  by  selfishness.  To 
be  absorbed  in  self  is  of  course  to  have  the  heart  shut 
to  others.  Our  own  interests,  inclinations,  possessions, 
when  they  assert  themselves  in  our  lives,  build  up 
impassable  barriers  between  us  and  our  fellows.  To 
live  to  self  is  the  real  root  of  every  sin  as  it  is  of  all 
loveless  life.  The  Apostle  uses  careful  language:  he 
admits  the  necessity  for  attention  to  our  '  own  things,' 
and  only  requires  that  we  should  look  '  also '  on  the 
things  of  others.  His  cure  for  the  hindrances  to  Chris- 
tian unity  is  very  complete,  very  practical,  and  very 
simple.  Each  counting  other  better  than  himself,  and 
each  '  looking  also  to  the  things  of  others '  seem  very 
homely  and  pedestrian  virtues,  but  homely  as  they  are 
we  shall  find  that  they  grip  us  tight,  if  we  honestly  try 
to  practise  them  in  our  daily  lives,  and  we  shall  find 
also  that  the  ladder  which  has  its  foot  on  earth  has  its 
top  in  the  heavens,  and  that  the  practice  of  humility 
and  unselfishness  leads  straight  to  having  '  the  mind 
which  was  also  in  Christ  Jesus.' 


THE  DESCENT  OF  THE  WORD 

'Have  this  mind  in  you  which  was  also  in  Christ  Jesus:  6.  Who,  being  in  the 
form  of  God,  counted  it  not  a  prize  to  be  on  an  equality  with  God,  7.  But  emptied 
Himself,  taking  the  form  of  a  servant,  being  made  in  the  likeness  of  men  ;  8.  And 
being  found  in  fashion  as  a  man.  He  humbled  Himself,  becoming  obedient  even 
unto  death,  yea,  the  death  of  the  cross.'— Phii*  ii.  6-8  (R.  V.). 

The  purpose  of  the  Apostle  in  this  great  passage  must 
ever  be  kept  clearly  in  view.  Our  Lord's  example 
is  set  forth  as  the  pattern  of  that  unselfish  disregard 
of  one's  own  things,  and  devotion  to  the  things  of 
others,  which  has  just  been  urged  on  the  Philippians, 
and  the  mind  which  was  in  Him  is  presented  as  the 
model  on  which  they  are  to  fashion  their  minds.  This 
purpose  in  some  measure  explains  some  of  the  peculi- 
arities of  the  language  here,  and  may  help  to  guide  us 
through  some  of  the  intricacies  and  doubtful  points  in 
the  interpretation  of  the  words.  It  explains  why  Christ's 
death  is  looked  at  in  them  only  in  its  bearing  upon 
Himself,  as  an  act  of  obedience  and  of  condescension, 
and  why  even  that  death  in  which  Jesus  stands  most 
inimitable  and  unique  is  presented  as  capable  of  being 
imitated  by  us.  The  general  drift  of  these  verses  is 
clear,  but  there  are  few  Scripture  passages  which  have 
evoked  more  difference  of  opinion  as  to  the  precise 
meaning  of  nearly  every  phrase.  To  enter  on  the 
subtle  discussions  involved  in  the  adequate  exposition 
of  the  words  would  far  exceed  our  limits,  and  we  must 
perforce  content  ourselves  with  a  slight  treatment  of 
them,  and  aim  chiefly  at  bringing  out  their  practical 
side. 

The  broad  truth  which  stands  sun-clear  amid  all 
diverse  interpretations  is — that  the  Incarnation,  Life, 
and  Death  are  the  great  examples  of  living  humility 

t6S 


254  PHILIPPIANS  [ch.  ix. 

and  self-sacrifice.  To  be  born  was  His  supreme  act  of 
condescension.  It  was  love  which  made  Him  assume 
the  vesture  of  human  flesh.  To  die  was  the  climax  of 
His  voluntary  obedience,  and  of  His  devotion  to  us. 

I.  The  height  from  which  Jesus  descended. 

The  whole  strange  conception  of  birth  as  being  the 
voluntary  act  of  the  Person  born,  and  as  being  the 
most  stupendous  instance  of  condescension  in  the 
world's  history,  necessarily  reposes  on  the  clear  con- 
viction that  He  had  a  prior  existence  so  lofty  that  it 
was  an  all  but  infinite  descent  to  become  man.  Hence 
Paul  begins  with  the  most  emphatic  assertion  that  he 
who  bore  the  name  of  Jesus  lived  a  divine  life  before 
He  was  born.  He  uses  a  very  strong  word  which  is 
given  in  the  margin  of  the  Revised  Version,  and  might 
well  have  been  in  its  text.  *  Being  originally '  as  the 
word  accurately  means,  carries  our  thoughts  back  not 
only  to  a  state  which  preceded  Bethlehem  and  the 
cradle,  but  to  that  same  timeless  eternity  from  which 
the  prologue  of  the  Gospel  of  John  partially  draws 
the  veil  when  it  says,  'In  the  beginning  was  the 
Word,'  and  to  which  Jesus  Himself  more  obscurely 
pointed  when  He  said,  *  Before  Abraham  was  I  am.' 

Equally  emphatic  in  another  direction  is  Paul's  next 
expression,  *  In  the  form  of  God,'  for  •  form '  means 
much  more  than  '  shape.'  I  would  point  out  the 
careful  selection  in  this  passage  of  three  words  to 
express  three  ideas  which  are  often  by  hasty  thought 
regarded  as  identical.  We  read  of  '  the  form  of  God ' 
(verse  6),  '  the  likeness  of  men '  (verse  7),  and  '  in  fashion 
as  a  man.'  Careful  investigation  of  these  two  words 
*  form '  and  *  fashion '  has  established  a  broad  distinction 
between  them,  the  former  being  more  fixed,  the  latter 
referring  to  that  which   is   accidental  and  outward, 


vs.  6-8]    THE  DESCENT  OF  THE  WORD    255 

which  may  be  fleeting  and  unsubstantial.  The  posses- 
sion of  the  form  involves  participation  in  the  essence 
also.  Here  it  implies  no  corporeal  idea  as  if  God  had 
a  material  form,  but  it  implies  also  much  more  than  a 
mere  apparent  resemblance.  He  who  is  in  the  form 
of  God  possesses  the  essential  divine  attributes.  Only 
God  can  be  '  in  the  form  of  God ' :  man  is  made  in  the 
likeness  of  God,  but  man  is  not  'in  the  form  of  God.* 
Light  is  thrown  on  this  lofty  phrase  by  its  antithesis 
with  the  succeeding  expression  in  the  next  verse, 
•the  form  of  a  servant,'  and  as  that  is  immediately 
explained  to  refer  to  Christ's  assumption  of  human 
nature,  there  is  no  room  for  candid  doubt  that  *  being 
originally  in  the  form  of  God  '  is  a  deliberately  asserted 
claim  of  the  divinity  of  Christ  in  His  pre-existent 
state. 

As  we  have  already  pointed  out,  Paul  soars  here  to 
the  same  lofty  height  to  which  the  prologue  of  John's 
Gospel  rises,  and  he  echoes  our  Lord's  own  words 
about  'the  glory  which  I  had  with  Thee  before  the 
foundation  of  the  world.'  Our  thoughts  are  carried 
back  before  creatures  were,  and  we  become  dimly 
aware  of  an  eternal  distinction  in  the  divine  nature 
which  only  perfects  its  eternal  oneness.  Such  an 
eternal  participation  in  the  divine  nature  before  all 
creation  and  before  time  is  the  necessary  pre-supposi- 
tion  of  the  worth  of  Christ's  life  as  the  pattern  of 
humility  and  self-sacrifice.  That  pre-supposition  gives 
all  its  meaning,  its  pathos,  and  its  power,  to  His  gentle- 
ness, and  love,  and  death.  The  facts  are  different  in 
their  significance,  and  different  in  their  power  to  bless 
and  gladden,  to  purge  and  sway  the  soul,  according  as 
we  contemplate  them  with  or  without  the  background 
of  His  pre-existent  divinity.    The  view  which  regards 


256  PHILIPPIANS  [ch.il 

Him  as  simply  a  man,  like  all  the  rest  of  us,  beginning 
to  be  when  He  was  born,  takes  away  from  His  example 
its  mightiest  constraining  force.  Only  when  we  with 
all  our  hearts  believe  '  that  the  Word  became  flesh,'  do 
we  discern  the  overwhelming  depths  of  condescension 
manifested  in  the  Birth.  If  it  was  not  the  incarnation 
of  God,  it  has  no  claim  on  the  hearts  of  men. 

11.  The  wondrous  act  of  descent. 

The  stages  in  that  long  descent  are  marked  out  with 
a  precision  and  definiteness  which  would  be  intolerable 
presumption,  if  Paul  were  speaking  only  his  own 
thoughts,  or  telling  what  he  had  seen  with  his  own  eyes. 
They  begin  with  what  was  in  the  mind  of  the  eternal 
Word  before  He  began  His  descent,  and  whilst  yet  He 
is  '  in  the  form  of  God.'  He  stands  on  the  lofty  level 
before  the  descent  begins,  and  in  spirit  makes  the  sur- 
render, which,  stage  by  stage,  is  afterwards  to  be 
wrought  out  in  act.  Before  any  of  these  acts  there 
must  have  been  the  disposition  of  mind  and  will  which 
Paul  describes  as  '  counting  it  not  a  thing  to  be  grasped 
to  be  on  an  equality  with  God.'  He  did  not  regard  the 
being  equal  to  God  as  a  prey  or  treasure  to  be  clutched 
and  retained  at  all  hazards.  That  sweeps  our  thoughts 
into  the  dim  regions  far  beyond  Calvary  or  Bethlehem, 
and  is  a  more  overwhelming  manifestation  of  love  than 
are  the  acts  of  lowly  gentleness  and  patient  endurance 
which  followed  in  time.  It  included  and  transcended 
them  all. 

It  was  the  supreme  example  of  not  *  looking  on  one's 
own  things.'  And  what  made  Him  so  count?  What 
but  infinite  love.  To  rescue  men,  and  win  them  to  Him- 
self and  goodness,  and  finally  to  lift  them  to  the  place 
from  which  He  came  down  for  them,  seemed  to  Him  to 
be  worth  the  temporary  surrender  of  that  glory  and 


TB.5-8]    THE  DESCENT  OF  THE  WORD    257 

majesty.  We  can  but  bow  and  adore  the  perfect  love. 
We  look  more  deeply  into  the  depths  of  Deity  than 
unaided  eyes  could  ever  penetrate,  and  what  we  see  is 
the  movement  in  that  abyss  of  Godhead  of  purest 
surrender  which,  by  beholding,  we  are  to  assimilate. 

Then  comes  the  wonder  of  wonders,  'He  emptied 
Himself.'  We  cannot  enter  here  on  the  questions  which 
gather  round  that  phrase,  and  which  give  it  a  factitious 
importance  in  regard  to  present  controversies.  All 
that  we  would  point  out  now  is  that  while  the  Apostle 
distinctly  treats  the  Incarnation  as  being  a  laying 
aside  of  what  made  the  Word  to  be  equal  with  God, 
he  says  nothing,  on  which  an  exact  determination  can 
be  based,  of  the  degree  or  particulars  in  which  the 
divine  nature  of  our  Lord  was  limited  by  His 
humanity.  The  fact  he  asserts,  and  that  is  all.  The 
scene  in  the  Upper  Chamber  was  but  a  feeble  picture 
of  what  had  already  been  done  behind  the  veil.  Un- 
less He  had  laid  aside  His  garments  of  divine  glory 
and  majesty,  He  would  have  had  no  human  flesh  from 
which  to  strip  the  robes.  Unless  He  had  willed  to 
take  the  '  form  of  a  servant,'  He  would  not  have  had  a 
body  to  gird  with  the  slave's  towel.  The  Incarnation, 
which  made  all  His  acts  of  lowly  love  possible,  was  a 
greater  act  of  lowly  love  than  those  which  flowed 
from  it.  Looking  at  it  from  earth,  men  say,  'Jesus 
was  born.'  Looking  at  it  from  heaven,  Angels  say, 
•  He  emptied  Himself.' 

But  how  did  He  empty  Himself?  By  taking  the 
form  of  a  slave,  that  is  to  God.  And  how  did  He  take 
the  form  of  a  slave  ?  By  *  becoming  in  the  likeness  of 
men.'  Here  we  are  specially  to  note  the  remarkable 
ianguage  implying  that  what  is  true  of  none  other  in 
all  the  generations  of  men  is  true  of  Him.    That  just 

B 


258  PHILIPPIANS  [ch.  ii. 

as  'emptying  Himself  was  His  own  act,  also  the 
taking  the  form  of  a  slave  by  His  being  born  was  His 
own  act,  and  was  more  truly  described  as  a  '  becoming.' 
We  note,  too,  the  strong  contrast  between  that  most 
remarkable  word  and  the  'bein^  originally'  which  is 
used  to  express  the  mystery  of  divine  pre-existence. 

Whilst  His  becoming  in  the  likeness  of  men  stands 
in  strong  contrast  with  *  being  originally,'  and  energeti- 
cally expresses  the  voluntariness  of  our  Lord's  birth, 
the  *  likeness  of  men '  does  not  cast  any  doubt  on  the 
reality  of  His  manhood,  but  points  to  the  fact  that 
'though  certainly  perfect  man,  He  was  by  reason  of 
the  divine  nature  present  in  Him  not  simply  and 
merely  man.' 

Here  then  the  beginning  of  Christ's  manhood  is 
spoken  of  in  terms  which  are  only  explicable,  if  it  was 
a  second  form  of  being,  preceded  by  a  pre-existent 
form,  and  was  assumed  by  His  own  act.  The  language, 
too,  demands  that  that  humanity  should  have  been 
true  essential  manhood.  It  was  in  '  the  form'  of  man 
and  possessed  of  all  essential  attributes.  It  was  in 
*  the  likeness '  of  man  possessed  of  all  external  charac- 
teristics, and  yet  was  something  more.  It  summed  up 
human  nature,  and  was  its  representative. 

III.  The  obedience  which  attended  the  descent. 

It  was  not  merely  an  act  of  humiliation  and  con- 
descension to  become  man,  but  all  His  life  was  one 
long  act  of  lowliness.  Just  as  He  'emptied  Himself  in 
the  act  of  becoming  in  the  'likeness  of  men,'  so  He 
'humbled  Himself,'  and  all  along  the  course  of  His 
earthly  life  He  chose  constant  lowliness  and  to  be 
'despised  and  rejected  of  men.'  It  was  the  result 
moment  by  moment  of  His  own  will  that  to  the  eyes 
of  men  He  presented  '  no  form  nor  comeliness,'  and  that 


Ts.6-8]    THE  DESCENT  OF  THE  WORD     259 

will  was  moment  by  moment  steadied  in  its  unmoved 
humility,  because  He  perpetually  looked  'not  on  Hih 
own  things,  but  on  the  things  of  others.'  The  guise 
He  presented  to  the  eyes  of  men  was  *  the  fashion  of  a 
man.'  That  word  corresponds  exactly  to  Paul's  care- 
fully selected  term,  and  makes  emphatic  both  its  super- 
ficial and  its  transitory  character. 

The  lifelong  humbling  of  Himself  was  further  mani- 
fested in  His  becoming  'obedient.'  That  obedience 
was,  of  course,  to  God.  And  here  we  cannot  but  pause 
to  ask  the  question,  How  comes  it  that  to  the  man 
Jesus  obedience  to  God  was  an  act  of  humiliation? 
Surely  there  is  but  one  explanation  of  such  a  state- 
ment. For  all  men  but  this  one  to  be  God's  slares  is 
their  highest  honour,  and  to  speak  of  obedience  as 
humiliation  is  a  sheer  absurdity. 

Not  only  was  the  life  of  Jesus  so  perfect  an  example 
of  unbroken  obedience  that  He  could  safely  front  His 
adversaries  with  the  question,  'Which  of  you  con- 
vinceth  Me  of  sin  ? '  atid  with  the  claim  to  '  do  always 
the  things  that  pleased  Him,'  but  the  obedience  to  the 
Father  was  perfected  in  His  death.  Consider  the  extra- 
ordinary fact  that  a  man's  death  is  the  crowning  in- 
stance of  his  humility,  and  ask  yourselves  the  question, 
Who  then  is  this  who  chose  to  be  born,  and  stooped  in 
the  act  of  dying?  His  death  was  obedience  to  God, 
because  by  it  He  carried  out  the  Father's  will  for  the 
salvation  of  the  world,  His  death  is  the  greatest  in- 
stance of  unselfish  self-sacrifice,  and  the  loftiest 
example  of  looking  on  the  'things  of  others'  that  the 
world  has  ever  seen.  It  dwindles  in  significance,  in 
pathos,  and  in  power  to  move  us  to  imitation  unless 
we  clearly  see  the  divine  glory  of  the  eternal  Lord  as 
the  background  of  the  gentle  lowliness  of  the  Man  of 


260  PHILIPPI ANS  [ch.  ii. 

Sorrows,  and  the  Cross.  No  theory  of  Christ's  life 
and  death  but  that  He  was  born  for  us,  and  died  for 
us,  either  explains  the  facts  and  the  apostolic  language 
concerning  them,  or  leaves  them  invested  with  their 
full  power  to  melt  our  hearts  and  mould  our  lives. 
There  is  a  possibility  of  imitating  Him  in  the  most 
transcendent  of  His  acts.  The  mind  may  be  in  us 
which  was  in  Christ  Jesus.  That  it  may,  His  death 
must  first  be  the  ground  of  our  hope,  and  then  we 
must  make  it  the  pattern  of  our  lives,  and  draw  from 
it  the  power  to  shape  them  after  His  blessed  Example. 


THE  ASCENT  OF  JESUS 

*  Wherefore  also  God  highly  exalted  Him  and  gave  unto  Him  the  name  which 
is  above  every  name ;  10.  That  in  the  name  of  Jesus  every  knee  should  bow,  of 
things  in  heaven,  and  things  on  earth,  and  things  under  the  earth ;  11.  And  that 
every  tongue  should  confess  that  Jesus  Christ  is  Lord,  to  the  glory  of  God  the 
Father.'— Phil.  ii.  9-11  (R.V.). 

'  He  that  humbleth  himself  shall  be  exalted,'  said  Jesus. 
He  is  Himself  the  great  example  of  that  law.  The 
Apostle  here  goes  on  to  complete  his  picture  of  the 
Lord  Jesus  as  our  pattern.  In  previous  verses  we  had 
the  solemn  steps  of  His  descent,  and  the  lifelong 
humility  and  obedience  of  the  incarnate  Son,  the  man 
Christ  Jesus.  Here  we  have  the  wondrous  ascent 
which  reverses  all  the  former  process.  Our  text  de- 
scribes the  reflex  motion  by  which  Jesus  is  borne  back 
to  the  same  level  as  that  from  which  the  descent 
began. 

We  have 

I.  The  act  of  exaltation  which  forms  the  contrast  and 
the  parallel  to  the  descent. 

'God  highly  exalted  Him.'     The   Apostle  coins  an 


vs.  9-11]       THE  ASCENT  OF  JESUS  261 

emphatic  word  which  doubly  expresses  elevation,  and 
in  its  grammatical  form  shows  that  it  indicates  a 
historical  fact.  That  elevation  was  a  thing  once 
accomplished  on  this  green  earth ;  that  is  to  say  it 
came  to  pass  in  the  fact  of  our  Lord's  ascension  when 
from  some  fold  of  the  Mount  of  Olives  He  was  borne 
upwards  and,  with  blessing  hands,  was  received  into 
the  Shechinah  cloud,  the  glory  of  which  hid  Him  from 
the  upward-gazing  eyes. 

It  is  plain  that  the  '  Him '  of  whom  this  tremendous 
assertion  is  made,  must  be  the  same  as  the  'He'  of 
whom  the  previous  verses  spoke,  that  is,  the  Incarnate 
Jesus.  It  is  the  manhood  which  is  exalted.  His 
humiliation  consisted  in  His  becoming  man,  but  His 
exaltation  does  not  consist  in  His  laying  aside  His 
humanity.  It  is  not  a  transient  but  an  eternal  union 
into  which  in  the  Incarnation  it  entered  with  divinity. 
Henceforward  we  have  to  think  of  Him  in  all  the 
glory  of  His  heavenly  state  as  man,  and  as  truly  and 
completely  in  the  '  likeness  of  men '  as  when  He  walked 
with  bleeding  feet  on  the  flinty  road  of  earthly  life. 
He  now  bears  for  ever  the  'form  of  God'  and  'the 
fashion  of  a  man.' 

Here  I  would  pause  for  a  moment  to  point  out  that 
the  calm  tone  of  this  reference  to  the  ascension  in- 
dicates that  it  was  part  of  the  recognised  Christian 
beliefs,  and  implies  that  it  had  been  familiar  long 
before  the  date  of  this  Epistle,  which  itself  dates  from 
not  more  than  at  the  most  thirty  years  from  the  death 
of  Christ.  Surely  that  lapse  of  time  is  far  too  narrow 
to  allow  of  such  a  belief  having  sprung  up,  and  been 
universally  accepted  about  a  dead  man,  who  all  the 
while  was  lying  in  a  nameless  grave. 

The  descent  is  presented  as  His  act,  but  decorum  and 


262  PHILIPPIANS  [ch.  ii. 

truth  required  that  the  exaltation  should  be  God's  act. 
'  He  humbled  Himself,'  but  '  God  exalted  Him.'  True, 
He  sometimes  represented  Himself  as  the  Agent  of 
His  own  Resurrection  and  Ascension,  and  established  a 
complete  parallel  between  His  descent  and  His  ascent, 
as  when  He  said, '  I  came  out  from  the  Father,  and  am 
come  into  the  world :  again,  I  leave  the  world,  and  go 
unto  the  Father.'  He  was  no  less  obedient  to  the 
Father's  will  when  He  ascended  up  on  high,  than  He 
was  when  He  came  down  to  earth,  and  whilst,  from 
one  point  of  view.  His  Resurrection  and  Ascension  were 
as  truly  His  own  acts  as  were  His  birth  and  His  death, 
from  another,  He  had  to  pray,  'And  now,  O  Father, 
glorify  Thou  Me  with  Thine  own  self  with  the  glory 
which  I  had  with  Thee  before  the  world  was.'  The 
Titans  presumptuously  scaled  the  heavens,  according 
to  the  old  legend,  but  the  Incarnate  Lord  returned  to 
'His  own  calm  home.  His  habitation  from  eternity,' 
was  exalted  thither  by  God,  in  token  to  the  universe 
that  the  Father  approved  the  Son's  descent,  and  that 
the  work  which  the  Son  had  done  was  indeed,  as  He 
declared  it  to  be,  'finished.'  By  exalting  Him,  the 
Father  not  merely  reinstated  the  divine  Word  in  its 
eternal  union  with  God,  but  received  into  the  cloud  of 
glory  the  manhood  which  the  Word  had  assumed. 

II.  The  glory  of  the  name  of  Jesus. 

What  is  the  name  'which  is  above  every  name '?  It  is 
the  name  Jesus.  It  is  to  be  noted  that  Paul  scarcely 
ever  uses  that  simple  appellative.  There  are,  roughly 
speaking,  about  two  hundred  instances  in  which  he 
names  our  Lord  in  his  Epistles,  and  there  are  only  four 
places,  besides  this,  in  which  he  uses  this  as  his  own,  and 
two  in  which  he,  as  it  were,  puts  it  into  the  mouth  of 
an  enemy.    Probably  then,  some  special  reason  led  to 


Y8.9-11]       THE  ASCENT  OF  JESUS  268 

its  occurrence  here,  and  it  is  not  difficult,  I  think,  to 
Bee  what  that  reason  is.  The  simple  personal  name 
was  given  indeed  with  reference  to  His  work,  but  had 
been  borne  by  many  a  Jewish  child  before  Mary  called 
her  child  Jesus,  and  the  fact  that  it  is  this  common 
name  which  is  exalted  above  every  name,  brings  out 
still  more  strongly  the  thought  already  dwelt  upon, 
that  what  is  thus  exalted  is  the  manhood  of  our  Lord. 
The  name  which  expressed  His  true  humanity,  which 
showed  His  full  identification  with  us,  which  was 
written  over  His  Cross,  which  perhaps  shaped  the 
taunt  *  He  saved  others,  Himself  He  cannot  save,' — that 
name  God  has  lifted  high  above  all  names  of  council 
and  valour,  of  wisdom  and  might,  of  authority  and 
rule.  It  is  shrined  in  the  hearts  of  millions  who 
render  to  it  perfect  trust,  unconditional  obedience,  ab- 
solute loyalty.  Its  growing  power,  and  the  warmth 
of  personal  love  which  it  evokes,  in  centuries  and 
lands  so  far  removed  from  the  theatre  of  His  life, 
is  a  unique  thing  in  the  world's  history.  It  reigns  in 
heaven. 

But  Paul  is  not  content  with  simply  asserting  the 
sovereign  glory  of  the  name  of  Jesus.  He  goes  on  to 
set  it  forth  as  being  what  no  other  name  borne  by  man 
can  be,  the  ground  and  object  of  worship,  when  he 
declares,  that  *  in  the  name  of  Jesus  every  knee  shall 
bow.'  The  words  are  quoted  from  the  second  Isaiah, 
and  occur  in  one  of  the  most  solemn  and  majestic 
utterances  of  the  monotheism  of  the  Old  Testament. 
And  Paul  takes  these  words,  undeterred  by  the  declara- 
tion which  precede  them,  '  I  Am  am  God  and  there  is 
none  else,'  applies  them  to  Jesus,  to  the  manhood  of 
our  Lord.  Bowing  the  knee  is  of  course  prayer,  and  in 
these  great  words  the  issue  of  the  work  of  Jesus  is 


264  PHILIPPIANS  [ch  il 

unmistakably  set  forth,  as  not  only  being  that  He  has 
declared  God  to  men,  who  through  Him  are  drawn  to 
worship  the  Father,  but  that  their  emotions  of  love, 
reverence,  worship,  are  turned  to  Him,  though  as  the 
Apostle  is  careful  immediately  to  note,  they  are  not 
thereby  intercepted  from,  but  directed  to,  the  glory  of 
God  the  Father.  In  the  eternities  before  His  descent, 
there  was  equality  with  God,  and  when  He  returns,  it 
is  to  the  Father,  who  in  Him  has  become  the  object  of 
adoration,  and  round  whose  throne  gather  with  bended 
knees  all  those  who  in  Jesus  see  the  Father. 

The  Apostle  still  further  dwells  on  the  glory  of  the 
name  as  that  of  the  acknowledged  Lord.  And  here  we 
have  with  significant  variation  in  strong  contrast  to 
the  previous  name  of  Jesus,  the  full  title  '  Jesus  Christ 
Lord.'  That  is  almost  as  unusual  in  its  completeness 
as  the  other  in  its  simplicity,  and  it  comes  in  here  with 
tremendous  energy,  reminding  us  of  the  great  act  to 
which  we  owe  our  redemption,  and  of  all  the  prophecies 
and  hopes  which,  from  of  old,  had  gathered  round  the 
persistent  hope  of  the  coming  Messiah,  while  the  name 
of  Lord  proclaims  His  absolute  dominion.  The  knee  is 
bowed  in  reverence,  the  tongue  is  vocal  in  confession. 
That  confession  is  incomplete  if  either  of  these  three 
names  is  falteringly  uttered,  and  still  more  so,  if 
either  of  them  is  wanting.  The  Jesus  whom  Christians 
confess  is  not  merely  the  man  who  was  born  in 
Bethlehem  and  known  among  men  as  '  Jesus  the 
carpenter.'  In  these  modern  days,  His  manhood  has 
been  so  emphasised  as  to  obscure  His  Messiahship  and 
to  obliterate  His  dominion,  and  alas !  there  are  many 
who  exalt  Him  by  the  name  that  Mary  gave  Him,  who 
turn  away  from  the  name  of  Jesus  as  'Hebrew  old 
clothes/  and  from  the  name  of  Lord  as  antiquated 


T8.9-11]       THE  ASCENT  OF  JESUS  265 

superstition.  But  in  all  the  lowliness  and  gentleness  of 
Jesus  there  were  not  wanting  lofty  claims  to  be  the 
Christ  of  whom  prophets  and  righteous  men  of  old 
spake,  and  whose  coming  many  a  generation  desired 
to  see  and  died  without  the  sight,  and  still  loftier  and 
more  absolute  claims  to  be  invested  with  '  all  power  in 
heaven  and  earth,'  and  to  sit  down  with  the  Father  on 
His  throne.  It  is  dangerous  work  to  venture  to  toss 
aside  two  of  these  three  names,  and  to  hope  that  if  we 
pronounce  the  third  of  them,  Jesus,  with  appreciation, 
it  will  not  matter  if  we  do  not  name  Him  either  Christ 
or  Lord. 

If  it  is  true  that  the  manhood  of  Jesus  is  thus 
exalted,  how  wondrous  must  be  the  kindred  between 
the  human  and  the  divine,  that  it  should  be  capable  of 
this,  that  it  should  dwell  in  the  everlasting  burnings  of 
the  Divine  Glory  and  not  be  consumed !  How  blessed 
for  us  the  belief  that  our  Brother  wields  all  the  forces 
of  the  universe,  that  the  human  love  which  Jesus 
had  when  He  bent  over  the  sick  and  comforted  the 
sorrowful,  is  at  the  centre.  Jesus  is  Lord,  the  Lord 
is  Jesus ! 

The  Psalmist  was  moved  to  a  rapture  of  thanks- 
giving when  he  thought  of  man  as  'made  a  little  lower 
than  the  angels,  and  crowned  with  glory  and  honour,' 
but  when  we  think  of  the  Man  Jesus  'sitting  at  the 
right  hand  of  God,'  the  Psalmist's  words  seem  pale  and 
poor,  and  we  can  repeat  them  with  a  deeper  meaning 
and  a  fuller  emphasis,  'Thou  madest  Him  to  have 
dominion  over  the  works  of  Thy  hands,  Thou  hast  put 
all  things  under  His  feet.' 

III.  The  universal  glory  of  the  name. 

By  the  three  classes  into  which  the  Apostle  divides 
creation,  'things  in  heaven,  and  things  on  earth,  and 


266  PHILIPPIANS  [ch.  ii. 

things  under  the  earth,'  he  simply  intends  to  declare, 
that  Jesus  is  the  object  of  all  worship,  and  the  words 
are  not  to  be  pressed  as  containing  dogmatic  assertions 
as  to  the  different  classes  mentioned.  But  guided  by 
other  words  of  Scripture,  we  may  permissibly  think 
that  the  *  things  in  heaven '  tell  us  that  the  angels  who 
do  not  need  His  mediation  learn  more  of  God  by  His 
work  and  bow  before  His  throne.  We  cannot  be 
wrong  in  believing  that  the  glory  of  His  work  stretches 
far  beyond  the  limits  of  humanity,  and  that  His  king- 
dom numbers  other  subjects  than  those  who  draw 
human  breath.  Other  lips  than  ours  say  with  a  great 
voice,  '  Worthy  is  the  Lamb  that  hath  been  slain  to 
receive  power  and  riches  and  wisdom  and  might  and 
honour  and  glory  and  blessing.' 

The  things  on  earth  are  of  course  men,  and  the 
words  encourage  us  to  dim  hopes  about  which  we  can- 
not dogmatise  of  a  time  when  all  the  wayward  self- 
seeking  and  self-tormenting  children  of  men  shall  have 
learned  to  know  and  love  their  best  friend,  and  '  there 
shall  be  one  flock  and  one  shepherd.' 

'Things  under  the  earth'  seems  to  point  to  the  old 
thought  of  '  Sheol '  or  *  Hades '  or  a  separate  state  of 
the  dead.  The  words  certainly  suggest  that  those  who 
have  gone  from  us  are  not  unconscious  nor  cut  off 
from  the  true  life,  but  are  capable  of  adoration  and 
confession.  We  cannot  but  remember  the  old  belief 
that  Jesus  in  His  death  'descended  into  Hell,'  and 
some  of  us  will  not  forget  Fra  Angelico's  picture  of  the 
open  doorway  with  a  demon  crushed  beneath  the  fallen 
portal,  and  the  crowd  of  eager  faces  and  outstretched 
hands  swarming  up  the  dark  passage,  to  welcome  the 
entering  Christ.  Whatever  we  may  think  of  that 
ancient  representation,  we  may  at  least  be  sure  that, 


▼•.  9-11]       THE  ASCENT  OF  JESUS  267 

wherever  they  are,  the  dead  in  Christ  praise  and 
reverence  and  love. 

IV.  The  glory  of  the  Father  in  the  glory  of  the  name 
of  Jesus. 

Knees  bent  and  tongues  confessing  the  absolute 
dominion  of  Jesus  Christ  could  only  be  offence  and 
sin  if  He  were  not  one  with  the  Father.  But  the 
experience  of  all  the  thousands  since  Paul  wrote,  whose 
hearts  have  been  drawn  in  reverent  and  worshipping 
trust  to  the  Son,  has  verified  the  assertion,  that  to 
confess  that  Jesus  Christ  is  Lord  diverts  no  worship 
from  God,  but  swells  and  deepens  the  ocean  of  praise 
that  breaks  round  the  throne.  If  it  is  true,  and  only 
if  it  is  true,  that  in  the  life  and  death  of  Jesus  all 
previous  revelations  of  the  Father's  heart  are  sur- 
passed, if  it  is  true  and  only  if  it  is  true,  as  He  Himself 
said,  that '  I  and  the  Father  are  one,'  can  Paul's  words 
here  be  anything  but  an  incredible  paradox.  But 
unless  these  great  words  close  and  crown  the  Apostle's 
glowing  vision,  it  is  maimed  and  imperfect,  and  Jesus 
interposes  between  loving  hearts  and  God.  One  could 
almost  venture  to  believe  that  at  the  back  of  Paul's 
mind,  when  he  wrote  these  words,  was  some  remem- 
brance of  the  great  prayer,  *  I  glorified  Thee  on  the 
earth,  having  accomplished  the  work  which  Thou 
gavest  Me  to  do.'  When  the  Son  is  glorified  we 
glorify  the  Father,  and  the  words  of  our  text  may  well 
be  remembered  and  laid  to  heart  by  any  who  will  not 
recognise  the  deity  of  the  Son,  because  it  seems  to 
them  to  dishonour  the  Father.  Their  honour  is  insep- 
arable and  their  glory  one. 

There  is  a  sense  in  which  Jesus  is  our  example  even 
in  His  ascent  and  exaltation,  just  as  He  was  in  His 
descent  and  humiliation.    The  mind  which  was  in  Him 


268  PHILIPPIANS  [ch.  ii. 

is  for  us  the  pattern  for  earthly  life,  though  the  deeds 
in  which  that  mind  was  expressed,  and  especially  His 
'obedience  to  the  death  of  the  Cross,'  are  so  far  beyond 
any  self-sacrifice  of  ours,  and  are  inimitable,  unique, 
and  needing  no  repetition  while  the  world  lasts.  And 
as  we  can  imitate  His  unexampled  sacrifice,  so  we  may 
share  His  divine  glory,  and,  resting  on  His  own  faithful 
word,  may  follow  the  calm  motion  of  His  Ascension, 
assured  that  where  He  is  there  we  shall  be  also,  and 
that  the  manhood  which  is  exalted  in  Him  is  the 
prophecy  that  all  who  love  Him  will  share  His  glory. 
The  question  for  us  all  is,  have  we  in  us  *  the  mind  that 
was  in  Christ '  ?  and  the  other  question  is,  what  is  that 
name  to  us  ?  Can  we  say,  '  Thy  mighty  name  salvation 
is '  ?  If  in  our  deepest  hearts  we  grasp  that  name,  and 
with  unfaltering  lips  can  say  that  *  there  is  none  other 
name  under  heaven  given  amongst  men  whereby  we 
must  be  saved  but  the  name  of  Jesus,'  then  we  shall 
know  that 

*  To  us  with  Thy  dear  name  are  given, 
Pardon,  and  holiness,  and  heaven.' 


WORK  OUT  YOUR  OWN  SALVATION 

'Work  out  your  own  salvation  with  fear  and  trembling,  13.  For  it  is  God  which 
worketh  in  you  both  to  will  and  to  do  of  His  good  pleasure.'— Phil.  il.  12, 13. 

'What  God  hath  joined  together,  let  no  man  put 
asunder ! '  Here  are,  joined  together,  in  the  compass 
of  one  practical  exhortation,  the  truths  which,  put 
asunder,  have  been  the  war-cries  and  shibboleths  of 
contending  sects  ever  since.  Faith  in  a  finished  salva- 
tion, and  yet  work;  God  working  all  in  me,  and  yet 


▼8.12,13]    YOUR  OWN  SALVATION  269 

I  able  and  bound  to  work  likewise ;  God  upholding  and 
sustaining  His  child  to  the  very  end ;  '  perfecting  that 
which  concerns  him,'  making  his  salvation  certain  and 
sure,  and  yet  the  Christian  working  'with  fear  and 
trembling,'  lest  he  should  be  a  castaway  and  come 
short  of  the  grace  of  God ; — who  does  not  recognise  in 
these  phrases  the  mottoes  that  have  been  written  on 
the  opposing  banners  in  many  a  fierce  theological 
battle,  waged  with  much  harm  to  both  sides,  and 
ending  in  no  clear  victory  for  either  ?  Yet  here  they 
are  blended  in  the  words  of  one  who  was  no  less 
profound  a  thinker  than  any  that  have  come  after,  and 
who  had  the  gift  of  a  divine  inspiration  to  boot. 

Not  less  remarkable  than  the  fusion  here  of 
apparent  antagonisms,  the  harmonising  of  apparent 
opposites,  is  the  intensely  practical  character  of  the 
purpose  for  which  they  are  adduced  at  all.  Paul  has 
no  idea  of  giving  his  disciples  a  lesson  in  abstract 
theology,  or  laying  for  them  a  foundation  of  a 
philosophy  of  free  will  and  divine  sovereignty ;  he  is 
not  merely  communicating  to  these  Philippians  truths 
for  their  creed,  but  precepts  for  their  deeds.  The 
Bible  knows  nothing  of  an  unpractical  theology,  but, 
on  the  other  hand,  the  Bible  knows  still  less  of  an 
untheological  morality.  It  digs  deep,  bottoming  the 
simplest  right  action  upon  right  thinking,  and  going 
down  to  the  mountain  bases  on  which  the  very  pillars 
of  the  universe  rest,  in  order  to  lay  there,  firm  and 
immoveable,  the  courses  of  the  temple  of  a  holy  life. 
Just  as  little  as  Scripture  gives  countenance  to  the 
error  that  makes  religion  theology  rather  than  life, 
just  so  little  does  it  give  countenance  to  the  far  more 
contemptible  and  shallower  error  common  in  our  day, 
which  says,  Religion  is  not  theology,  but  life ;  and 


270  PHILTPPIANS  [ch.  ii. 

means,  *  Therefore,  it  does  not  matter  what  theology 
you  have,  you  can  work  a  good  life  out  with  any 
creed ! '  The  Bible  never  teaches  unpractical  specula- 
tions, and  the  Bible  never  gives  precepts  which  do  not 
rest  on  the  profoundest  truths.  Would  God,  brethren, 
that  we  all  had  souls  as  wide  as  would  take  in  the 
whole  of  the  many-sided  scriptural  representation  of 
the  truths  of  the  Gospel,  and  so  avoid  the  narrowness 
of  petty,  partial  views  of  God's  infinite  counsel ;  and 
that  we  had  as  close,  direct,  and  as  free  communica- 
tion between  head,  and  heart,  and  hand,  as  the  Scrip- 
ture has  between  precept  and  practice ! 

But  in  reference  more  especially  to  my  text.  Keep- 
ing in  view  these  two  points  I  have  already  suggested, 
namely, — that  it  is  the  reconciling  of  apparent  oppo- 
sites,  and  that  it  is  intensely  practical,  I  find  in  it  these 
three  thoughts; — First,  a  Christian  has  his  whole 
salvation  accomplished  for  him,  and  yet  he  is  to  work 
it  out.  Secondly,  a  Christian  has  everything  done  in 
him  by  God,  and  yet  he  is  to  work.  Lastly,  a  Christian 
has  his  salvation  certainly  secured,  and  yet  he  is  to 
fear  and  tremble. 

I.  In  the  first  place,  A  Christian  man  has  his  whole 
salvation  already  accomplished  for  him  in  Christ,  and 
yet  he  is  to  work  it  out. 

There  are  two  points  absolutely  necessary  to  be  kept 
in  view  in  order  to  a  right  understanding  of  the  words 
before  us,  for  the  want  of  noticing  which  it  has  become 
the  occasion  of  terrible  mistakes.  These  are — the  per- 
sons to  whom  it  is  addressed,  and  the  force  of  the 
scriptural  expression  •  salvation.'  As  to  the  first,  this 
exhortation  has  been  misapplied  by  being  addressed  to 
those  who  have  no  claim  to  be  Christians,  and  by  having 
such  teaching  deduced  from  it  as.  You  do  your  part,  and 


▼8.18,13]    YOUR  OWN  SALVATION  271 

God  will  do  His;  You  work,  and  God  will  certainly 
help  you ;  You  co-operate  in  the  great  work  of 
your  salvation,  and  you  will  get  grace  and  pardon 
through  Jesus  Christ.  Now  let  us  remember  the  very 
simple  thing,  but  very  important  to  the  right  under- 
standing of  these  words,  that  none  but  Christian 
people  have  anything  to  do  with  them.  To  all  others, 
to  all  who  are  not  already  resting  on  the  finished 
salvation  of  Jesus  Christ,  this  injunction  is  utterly 
inapplicable.  It  is  addressed  to  the  *  beloved,  who 
have  always  obeyed ' ;  to  the  *  saints  in  Christ  Jesus, 
which  are  at  Philippi.'  The  whole  Epistle  is  addressed, 
and  this  injunction  with  the  rest,  to  Christian  men. 
That  is  the  first  thing  to  be  remembered.  If  there  be 
any  of  you,  who  have  thought  that  these  words  of 
Paul's  to  those  who  had  believed  on  Christ  contained  a 
rule  of  action  for  you,  though  you  have  not  rested 
your  souls  on  Him,  and  exhorted  you  to  try  to  win 
salvation  by  your  own  doings,  let  me  remind  you  of 
what  Christ  said  when  the  Jews  came  to  Him  in  a 
similar  spirit  and  asked  Him,  'What  shall  we  do  that 
we  may  work  the  works  of  God  ? '  His  answer  to 
them  was,  and  His  answer  to  you,  my  brother,  is,  *  This 
is  the  work  of  God,  that  ye  should  believe  in  Him  whom 
He  hath  sent.'  That  is  the  first  lesson :  Not  work,  but 
faith ;  unless  there  be  faith,  no  work.  Unless  you  are 
a  Christian,  the  passage  has  nothing  to  do  with  you. 

But  now,  if  this  injunction  be  addressed  to  those 
who  are  looking  for  their  salvation  only  to  the  perfect 
work  of  Christ,  how  can  they  be  exhorted  to  work  it 
out  themselves  ?  Is  not  the  oft-recurring  burden  of 
Paul's  teaching  *  not  by  works  of  righteousness,  which 
we  have  done,  but  by  His  mercy  He  saved  us '  ?  How 
does  this  text  harmonise  with  these   constantly  re- 


272  PHILIPPIANS  [CH.  ii. 

peated  assertions  that  Christ  has  done  all  for  us,  and 
that  we  have  nothing  to  do,  and  can  do  nothing?  To 
answer  this  question,  we  have  to  remember  that  that 
scriptural  expression, '  salvation,'  is  used  with  consider- 
able width  and  complexity  of  signification.  It  some- 
times means  the  whole  of  the  process,  from  the  be- 
ginning to  the  end,  by  which  we  are  delivered  from 
sin  in  all  its  aspects,  and  are  set  safe  and  stable  at 
the  right  hand  of  God.  It  sometimes  means  one  or 
other  of  three  different  parts  of  that  process — either 
deliverance  from  the  guilt,  punishment,  condemnation 
of  sin ;  or  secondly,  the  gradual  process  of  deliverance 
from  its  power  in  our  own  hearts;  or  thirdly,  the 
completion  of  that  process  by  the  final  and  perfect 
deliverance  from  sin  and  sorrow,  from  death  and  the 
body,  from  earth  and  all  its  weariness  and  troubles, 
which  is  achieved  when  we  are  landed  on  the  other 
side  of  the  river.  Salvation,  in  one  aspect,  is  a  thing 
past  to  the  Christian ;  in  another,  it  is  a  thing  'present ; 
in  a  third,  it  is  a  thing  future.  But  all  these  three  are 
one ;  all  are  elements  of  the  one  deliverance — the  one 
mighty  and  perfect  act  which  includes  them  all. 

These  three  all  come  equally  from  Christ  Himself. 
These  three  all  depend  equally  on  His  work  and  His 
power.  These  three  are  all  given  to  a  Christian  man 
in  the  first  act  of  faith.  But  the  attitude  in  which  he 
stands  in  reference  to  that  accomplished  salvation 
which  means  deliverance  from  sin  as  a  penalty  and  a 
curse,  and  that  in  which  he  stands  to  the  continuing 
and  progressive  salvation  which  means  deliverance 
from  the  power  of  evil  in  his  own  heart,  are  somewhat 
different.  In  regard  to  the  one,  he  has  only  to  take 
the  finished  blessing.  He  has  to  exercise  faith  and 
faith  alone.     He  has  nothing  to  do,  nothing  to  add, 


▼s.12,13]    YOUR  OWN  SALVATION  273 

in  order  to  fit  himself  for  it,  but  simply  to  receive  the 
gift  of  God,  and  to  believe  on  Him  whom  He  hath 
sent.  But  then,  though  that  reception  involves  what 
shall  come  after  it,  and  though  every  one  who  has 
and  holds  the  first  thing,  the  pardon  of  his  transgres 
sion,  has  and  holds  thereby  and  therein  his  growing 
sanctifying  and  his  final  glory,  yet  the  salvation 
which  means  our  being  delivered  from  the  evil  that  is 
in  our  hearts,  and  having  our  souls  made  like  unto 
Christ,  is  one  which — free  gift  though  it  be — is  not 
ours  on  the  sole  condition  of  an  initial  act  of  faith, 
but  is  ours  on  the  condition  of  continuous  faithful 
reception  and  daily  effort,  not  in  our  own  strength, 
but  in  God's  strength,  to  become  like  Him,  and  to 
make  our  own  that  which  God  has  given  us,  and  which 
Christ  is  continually  bestowing  upon  us. 

The  two  things,  then,  are  not  inconsistent — an 
accomplished  salvation,  a  full,  free,  perfect  redemp- 
tion, with  which  a  man  has  nothing  to  do  at  all,  but 
to  take  it ; — and,  on  the  other  hand,  the  injunction  to 
them  who  have  received  this  divine  gift :  '  Work  out 
your  own  salvation.*  Work,  as  well  as  believe,  and  in 
the  daily  practice  of  faithful  obedience,  in  the  daily 
subjugation  of  your  own  spirits  to  His  divine  power, 
in  the  daily  crucifixion  of  your  flesh  with  its  affections 
and  lusts,  in  the  daily  straining  after  loftier  heights  of 
godliness  and  purer  atmospheres  of  devotion  and  love 
— make  more  thoroughly  your  own  that  which  you 
possess.  Work  into  the  substance  of  your  souls  that 
which  you  have.  Apprehend  that  for  which  you  are 
apprehended  of  Christ.  'Give  all  diligence  to  make 
your  calling  and  election  sure ' ;  and  remember  that 
not  a  past  act  of  faith,  but  a  present  and  continuous 
life  of  loving,  faithful  work  in   Christ,  which  is  His 

s 


274  PHILIPPIANS  [ch.  n. 

and  yet  yours,  is  the  'holding  fast  the  beginning  of 
your  confidence  firm  unto  the  end.' 

II.  In  the  second  place,  God  works  all  in  us,  and  yet 
we  have  to  work. 

There  can  be  no  mistake  about  the  good  faith 
and  firm  emphasis — as  of  a  man  who  knows  his  own 
mind,  and  knows  that  his  word  is  true — with  which 
the  Apostle  holds  up  here  the  two  sides  of  what  I 
venture  to  call  the  one  truth;  'Work  out  your  own 
salvation — for  God  works  in  you.'  Command  implies 
power.  Command  and  power  involve  duty.  The 
freedom  of  the  Christian's  action,  the  responsibility  of 
the  believer  for  his  Christian  growth  in  grace,  the 
committal  to  the  Christian  man's  own  hands  of  the 
means  of  sanctifying,  lie  in  that  injunction,  'Work 
out  your  own  salvation.'  Is  there  any  faltering,  any 
paring  down  or  cautious  guarding  of  the  words,  in 
order  that  they  may  not  seem  to  clash  with  the  other 
side  of  the  truth  ?  No :  Paul  does  not  say,  '  Work  it 
out ;  yet  it  is  God  that  worketh  in  you ' ;  not  *  Work  it 
out  although  it  is  God  that  worketh  in  you ' ;  not '  Work 
it  out,  but  then  it  must  always  be  remembered  and 
taken  as  a  caution  that  it  is  God  that  worketh  in 
you  I '  He  blends  the  two  things  together  in  an 
altogether  different  connection,  and  sees — strangely  to 
some  people,  no  contradiction,  nor  limitation,  nor 
puzzle,  but  a  ground  of  encouragement  to  cheerful 
obedience.  Do  you  work,  *for  it  is  God  that  worketh 
in  you  both  to  will  and  to  do  of  His  good  pleasure.' 
And  does  the  Apostle  limit  the  divine  operation? 
Notice  how  his  words  seem  picked  out  on  purpose  to 
express  most  emphatically  its  all-pervading  energy. 
Look  how  his  words  seem  picked  out  on  purpose  to 
express  with  the  utmost  possible  emphasis  that  all 


vs.  12, 13]    YOUR  OWN  SALVATION  275 

which  a  good  man  is,  and  does,  is  its  fruit.  It  is  God 
that  worketh  in  you.  That  expresses  more  than  bring- 
ing outward  means  to  bear  upon  heart  and  will.  It 
speaks  of  an  inward,  real,  and  efficacious  operation  of 
the  Indwelling  Spirit  of  all  energy  on  the  spirit  in 
which  He  dwells.  'Worketh  in  you  to  will'',  this 
expresses  more  than  the  presentation  of  motives  from 
without,  it  points  to  a  direct  action  on  the  will,  by 
which  impulses  are  originated  within.  God  puts  in 
you  the  first  faint  motions  of  a  better  will.  '  Worketh 
in  you,  doing  as  well  as  willing ' ;  this  points  to  all 
practical  obedience,  to  all  external  acts  as  flowing 
from  His  grace  in  us,  no  less  than  all  inward  good 
thoughts  and  holy  desires. 

It  is  not  that  God  gives  men  the  power,  and  then 
leaves  them  to  make  the  use  of  it.  It  is  not  that  the 
desire  and  purpose  come  forth  from  Him,  and  that 
then  we  are  left  to  ourselves  to  be  faithful  or  unfaith- 
ful stewards  in  carrying  it  out.  The  whole  process, 
from  the  first  sowing  of  the  seed  until  its  last  blossom- 
ing and  fruiting,  in  the  shape  of  an  accomplished  act, 
of  which  God  shall  bless  the  springing — it  is  all  God's 
together!  There  is  a  thorough-going,  absolute  attri- 
bution of  every  power,  every  action,  all  the  thoughts, 
words,  and  deeds  of  a  Christian  soul,  to  God.  No  words 
could  be  selected  which  would  more  thoroughly  cut 
away  the  ground  from  every  half-and-half  system 
which  attempts  to  deal  them  out  in  two  portions,  part 
God's  and  part  mine.  With  all  emphasis  Paul  attri- 
butes all  to  God. 

And  none  the  less  strongly  does  he  teach,  by  the 
implication  contained  in  his  earnest  injunction,  that 
human  responsibility,  that  human  control  over  the 
human  will,  and  that  reality  of  human  agency  which 


276  PHILIPPIANS  [ch.  n. 

are  often  thought  to  be  annihilated  by  these  broad 
views  of  God  as  originating  all  good  in  the  soul  and  life. 
The  Apostle  thought  that  this  doctrine  did  not  absorb 
all  our  individuality  in  one  great  divine  Cause  which 
made  men  mere  tools  and  puppets.  He  did  not  believe 
that  the  inference  from  it  was, '  Therefore  do  you  sit 
still,  and  feel  yourselves  the  cyphers  that  you  are.* 
His  practical  conclusion  is  the  very  opposite.  It  is — 
God  does  all,  therefore  do  you  work.  His  belief  in 
the  power  of  God's  grace  was  the  foundation  of  the 
most  intense  conviction  of  the  reality  and  indispens- 
ableness  of  his  own  power,  and  was  the  motive  which 
stimulated  him  to  vigorous  action.  Work,  for  God 
works  in  you. 

Each  of  these  truths  rests  firmly  on  its  own  appro- 
priate evidence.  My  own  consciousness  tells  me  that 
I  am  free,  that  I  have  power,  that  I  am  therefore 
responsible  and  exposed  to  punishment  for  neglect  of 
duty.  I  know  what  I  mean  when  I  speak  of  the  will 
of  God,  because  I  myself  am  conscious  of  a  will.  The 
power  of  God  is  an  object  of  intelligent  thought  to 
me,  because  I  myself  am  conscious  of  power.  And  on 
the  other  hand,  that  belief  in  a  God  which  is  one  of 
the  deep  and  universal  beliefs  of  men  contains  in  it, 
when  it  comes  to  be  thought  about,  the  belief  in  Him 
as  the  source  of  all  power,  as  the  great  cause  of  all. 
If  I  believe  in  a  God  at  all,  I  must  believe  that  He 
whom  I  so  call,  w^orketh  all  things  after  the  counsel  of 
His  own  will.  These  two  convictions  are  both  given 
to  us  in  the  primitive  beliefs  which  belong  to  us  all. 
The  one  rests  on  consciousness,  and  underlies  all  our 
moral  judgments.  The  other  rests  on  an  original 
belief,  which  belongs  to  man  as  such.  These  two 
mighty  pillars  on  which  all  morality  and  all  religion 


vs.  12. 13]    YOUR  OWN  SALVATION  277 

repose  have  their  foundations  down  deep  in  our  nature, 
and  tower  up  beyond  our  sight.  They  seem  to  stand 
opposite  to  each  other,  but  it  is  only  as  the  strong 
piers  of  some  tall  arch  are  opposed.  Beneath  they 
repose  on  one  foundation,  above  they  join  together 
in  the  completing  keystone  and  bear  the  whole  steady 
structure. 

Wise  and  good  men  have  toiled  to  harmonise  them, 
in  vain.  The  task  transcends  the  limits  of  human 
faculties,  as  exercised  here,  at  all  events.  Perhaps  the 
time  may  come  when  we  shall  be  lifted  high  enough 
to  see  the  binding  arch,  but  here  on  earth  we  can  only 
behold  the  shafts  on  either  side.  The  history  of  con- 
troversy on  the  matter  surely  proves  abundantly  what 
a  hopeless  task  they  undertake  who  attempt  to  recon- 
cile these  truths.  The  attempt  has  usually  consisted 
in  speaking  the  one  loudly  and  the  other  in  a  whisper, 
and  then  the  opposite  side  has  thundered  what  had 
been  whispered,  and  has  whispered  very  softly  what 
had  been  shouted  very  loudly.  One  party  lays  hold  of 
the  one  pole  of  the  ark,  and  the  other  lays  hold  of 
that  on  the  other  side.  The  fancied  reconciliation 
consists  in  paring  down  one  half  of  the  full-orbed 
truth  to  nothing,  or  in  admitting  it  in  words  while 
every  principle  of  the  reconciler's  system  demands  its 
denial.  Each  antagonist  is  strong  in  his  assertions, 
and  weak  in  his  denials,  victorious  when  he  establishes 
his  half  of  the  whole,  easily  defeated  when  he  tries  to 
overthrow^  his  opponent's. 

This  apparent  incompatibility  is  no  reason  for  re- 
jecting truths  each  commended  to  our  acceptance  on 
its  own  proper  grounds.  It  may  be  a  reason  for  not 
attempting  to  dogmatise  about  them.  It  may  be  a 
warning  to   us   that  we  are  on  ground  where  onv 


278  PHILIPPIANS  [ch.  ii. 

limited  understandings  have  no  firm  footing,  but  it  is 
no  ground  for  suspecting  the  evidence  which  certifies 
the  truths.  The  Bible  admits  and  enforces  them  both. 
It  never  tones  down  the  emphasis  of  its  statement  of 
the  one  for  fear  of  clashing  against  the  other,  but 
points  to  us  the  true  path  for  thought,  in  a  firm 
grasp  of  both,  in  the  abandonment  of  all  attempts  to 
reconcile  them,  and  for  practical  conduct,  in  the  peace- 
ful trust  in  God  who  hath  wrought  all  our  works  in 
us,  and  in  strenuous  working  out  of  our  own  salva- 
tion. Let  us,  as  we  look  back  on  that  battlefield  where 
much  wiser  men  than  we  have  fought  in  vain,  doing 
little  but  raising  up  '  a  little  dust  that  is  lightly  laid 
again,*  and  building  trophies  that  are  soon  struck 
down,  learn  the  lesson  it  teaches,  and  be  contented  to 
say,  The  short  cord  of  my  plummet  does  not  quite  go 
down  to  the  bottom  of  the  bottomless,  and  I  do  not 
profess  either  to  understand  God  or  to  understand 
man,  both  of  which  I  should  want  to  do  before  I  under- 
stood the  mystery  of  their  conjoint  action.  Enough 
for  me  to  believe  that, 

♦  If  any  force  we  have,  it  is  to  ill, 
And  all  the  power  is  God's,  to  do  and  eke  to  will.' 

Enough  for  me  to  know  that  I  have  solemn  duties 
laid  upon  me,  a  life's  task  to  be  done,  my  deliverance 
from  mine  own  evil  to  work  out,  and  that  I  shall  only 
accomplish  that  work  when  I  can  say  with  the  Apostle, 
'  I  live,  yet  not  I,  but  Christ  liveth  in  me.' 

God  is  all,  but  thou  canst  work !  My  brother,  take 
this  belief,  that  God  worketh  all  in  you,  for  the 
ground  of  your  confidence,  and  feel  that  unless  He  do 
all,  you  can  do  nothing.  Take  this  conviction,  that 
thou  canst  work,  for  the  spur  and  stimulus  of  thy 


vs.  12,  IS]    YOUR  OWN  SALVATION  279 

life,  and  think,  These  desires  in  my  soul  come  from  a 
far  deeper  source  than  the  little  cistern  of  my  own 
individual  life.  They  are  God's  gift.  Let  me  cherish 
them  with  the  awful  carefulness  which  their  origin 
requires,  lest  I  should  seem  to  have  received  the  grace 
of  God  in  vain.  These  two  streams  of  truth  are  like 
the  rain-shower  that  falls  upon  the  watershed  of  a 
country.  The  one  half  flows  down  the  one  side  of  the 
everlasting  hills,  and  the  other  down  the  other. 
Falling  into  rivers  that  water  different  continents, 
they  at  length  find  the  sea,  separated  by  the  distance 
of  half  the  globe.  But  the  sea  into  which  they  fall 
is  one,  in  every  creek  and  channel.  And  so,  the  truth 
into  which  these  two  apparent  opposites  converge,  is 
•the  depth  of  the  wisdom  and  the  knowledge  of  God,' 
whose  ways  are  past  finding  out — the  Author  of  all 
goodness,  who,  if  we  have  any  holy  thought,  has 
given  it  us ;  if  we  have  any  true  desire,  has  implanted 
it;  has  given  us  the  strength  to  do  the  right  and  to 
live  in  His  fear;  and  who  yet,  doing  all  the  willing  and 
the  doing,  says  to  us,  'Because  I  do  everything,  there- 
fore let  not  thy  will  be  paralysed,  or  thy  hand  palsied  ; 
but  because  I  do  everything,  therefore  will  thou 
according  to  My  will,  and  do  thou  according  to  My 
commandments ! ' 

III.  Lastly :  The  Christian  has  his  salvation  secured, 
and  yet  he  is  to  fear  and  tremble. 

'Fear  and  trembling.'  •  But,'  you  may  say,  *  perfect 
love  casts  out  fear.'  So  it  does.  The  fear  which  has 
torment  it  casts  out.  But  there  is  another  fear 
in  which  there  is  no  torment,  brethren ;  a  fear  and 
trembling  which  is  but  another  shape  of  confidence 
and  calm  hope !  Scripture  does  tell  us  that  the  be- 
lieving  man's    salvation   is  certain.      Scripture    tells 


280  PHILIPPIANS  [ch.  il 

us  it  is  certain  since  he  believes.  And  your  faith 
can  be  worth  nothing  unless  it  have,  bedded  deep 
in  it,  that  trembling  distrust  of  your  own  power 
which  is  the  pre-requisite  and  the  companion  of  all 
thankful  and  faithful  reception  of  God's  infinite 
mercy.  Your  horizon  ought  to  be  full  of  fear,  if  your 
gaze  be  limited  to  yourself ;  but  oh  !  above  our  earthly 
horizon  with  its  fogs,  God's  infinite  blue  stretches 
untroubled  by  the  mist  and  cloud  which  are  earth- 
born.  I,  as  working,  have  need  to  tremble  and  to 
fear,  but  I,  as  wrought  upon,  have  a  right  to  confidence 
and  hope,  a  hope  that  is  full  of  immortality,  and  an 
assurance  which  is  the  pledge  of  its  own  fulfilment. 
The  worker  is  nothing,  the  Worker  in  him  is  all. 
Fear  and  trembling,  when  the  thoughts  turn  to  mine 
own  sins  and  weaknesses,  hope  and  confidence  when 
they  turn  to  the  happier  vision  of  God!  'Not  I' — 
there  is  the  tremulous  self-distrust ;  '  the  grace  of  God 
in  me' — there  is  the  calm  assurance  of  victory.  For- 
asmuch, then,  as  God  worketh  all  things,  be  you 
diligent,  faithful,  prayerful,  confident.  Forasmuch  as 
Christ  has  perfected  the  work  for  you,  do  you  '  go  on 
unto  perfection.'  Let  all  fear  and  trembling  be  yours, 
as  a  man ;  let  all  confidence  and  calm  trust  be  yours 
as  a  child  of  God.  Turn  your  confidence  and  your 
fears  alike  into  prayer.  •  Perfect,  O  Lord,  that  which 
concerneth  me;  forsake  not  the  work  of  Thine  own 
hands!' — and  the  prayer  will  evoke  the  merciful 
answer,  '  I  will  never  leave  thee,  nor  forsake  thee. 
God  is  faithful,  who  hath  called  you  unto  the  Gospel 
of  His  Son ;  and  will  keep  you  unto  His  everlasting 
kingdom  of  glor^.' 


COPIES  OF  JESUS 

*Do  all  things  without  mnrmurings  and  disputings ;  15.  That  ye  may  be  blame- 
less and  harmless,  children  of  God  without  blemish  in  the  midst  of  a  crooked  and 
perverse  generation,  among  whom  ye  are  seen  as  lights  in  the  world,  16.  Holding 
forth  the  word  of  life.'— Phil.  ii.  14-16  (R.V.). 

We  are  told  by  some  superfine  modern  moralists,  that 
to  regard  one's  own  salvation  as  the  great  work  of  our 
lives  is  a  kind  of  selfishness,  and  no  doubt  there  may 
be  a  colour  of  truth  in  the  charge.  At  least  the 
meaning  of  the  injunction  to  work  out  our  own  salva- 
tion may  have  been  sometimes  so  misunderstood,  and 
there  have  been  types  of  Christian  character,  such  as 
the  ascetic  and  monastic,  which  have  made  the  repre- 
sentation plausible.  I  do  not  think  that  there  is  much 
danger  of  anybody  so  misunderstanding  the  precept 
now.  But  it  is  worthy  of  notice  that  there  stand  here 
side  by  side  two  paragraphs,  in  the  former  of  which 
the  effort  to  work  out  one's  own  salvation  is  urged  in 
the  strongest  terms,  and  in  the  other  of  which  the 
regard  for  others  is  predominant.  We  shall  see  that 
the  connection  between  these  two  is  not  accidental,  but 
that  one  great  reason  for  working  out  our  salvation  is 
here  set  forth  as  being  the  good  we  may  thereby  do  to 
others. 

I.  We  note  the  one  great  duty  of  cheerful  yielding 
to  God's  will. 

It  is  clear,  I  think,  that  the  precept  to  do  *  all  things 
without  murmurings  and  disputings'  stands  in  the 
closest  connection  with  what  goes  before.  It  is,  in 
fact,  the  explanation  of  how  salvation  is  to  be  wrought 
out.  It  presents  the  human  side  which  corresponds  to 
the  divine  activity,  which  has  just  been  so  earnestly 
insisted  on.    God  works  in  us  'willing  and  doing,'  let 


282  PHILIPPIANS  [ch.  ii. 

us  on  our  parts  do  with  ready  submission  all  the  things 
which  He  so  inspires  to  will  and  to  do. 

The  '  murmurings '  are  not  against  men  but  against 
God.  The  'disputings' are  not  wrangling  with  others 
but  the  division  of  mind  in  one's  self- questionings, 
hesitations,  and  the  like.  So  the  one  are  more  moral, 
the  other  more  intellectual,  and  together  they  represent 
the  ways  in  which  Christian  men  may  resist  the  action 
on  their  spirits  of  God's  Spirit,  *  willing,'  or  the  action 
of  God's  providence  on  their  circumstances,  'doing.' 
Have  we  never  known  what  it  was  to  have  some  course 
manifestly  prescribed  to  us  as  right,  from  which  we 
have  shrunk  with  reluctance  of  will  ?  If  some  course 
has  all  at  once  struck  us  as  wrong  which  we  had 
been  long  accustomed  to  do  without  hesitation,  has 
there  been  no  '  murmuring '  before  we  yielded  ?  A 
voice  has  said  to  us,  *  Give  up  such  and  such  a  habit,'  or 
•such  and  such  a  pursuit  is  becoming  too  engrossing ': 
do  we  not  all  know  what  it  is  not  only  to  feel  obedience 
an  effort,  but  even  to  cherish  reluctance,  and  to  let  it 
stifle  the  voice  ? 

There  are  often  *  disputings '  which  do  not  get  the 
length  of  '  murmurings.'  The  old  word  which  tried  to 
weaken  the  plain  imperative  of  the  first  command  by 
the  subtle  suggestion,  'Yea,  hath  God  said?'  still  is 
whispered  into  our  ears.  We  know  what  it  is  to  answer 
God's  commands  with  a  '  But,  Lord.'  A  reluctant  will  is 
clever  to  drape  itself  with  more  or  less  honest  excuses, 
and  the  only  safety  is  in  cheerful  obedience  and  glad 
submission.  The  will  of  God  ought  not  only  to  receive 
obedience,  but  prompt  obedience,  and  such  instan- 
taneous and  whole-souled  submission  is  indispensable  if 
we  are  to  '  work  out  our  own  salvation,'  and  to  present 
an  attitude  of  true,  receptive  correspondence  to  that  of 


vs.U-16]  COPIES  OF  JESUS  283 

God,  who  'works  in  us  both  to  will  and  to  do  of  His 
own  good  pleasure.'  Our  surrender  of  ourselves  into 
the  hands  of  God,  in  respect  both  to  inward  and  out- 
ward things,  should  be  complete.  As  has  been  pro- 
foundly said,  that  surrender  consists  *  in  a  continual 
forsaking  and  losing  all  self  in  the  will  of  God,  willing 
only  what  God  from  eternity  has  willed,  forgetting 
what  is  past,  giving  up  the  time  present  to  God,  and 
leaving  to  His  providence  that  which  is  to  come, 
making  ourselves  content  in  the  actual  moment  seeing 
it  brings  along  with  it  the  eternal  order  of  God  con- 
cerning us '  (Madame  Guyon). 
II.  The  conscious  aim  in  all  our  activity 
What  God  works  in  us  for  is  that  for  which  we  too 
are  to  yield  ourselves  to  His  working, '  without  murmur- 
ings  and  disputings,'  and  to  co-operate  with  glad  sub- 
mission and  cheerful  obedience.  We  are  to  have  as 
our  distinct  aim  the  building  up  of  a  character  *  blame- 
less and  harmless,  children  of  God  without  rebuke.' 
The  blamelessness  is  probably  in  reference  to  men's 
judgment  rather  than  to  God's,  and  the  difficulty  of 
coming  untarnished  from  contact  with  the  actions  and 
criticisms  of  a  crooked  and  perverse  generation  is 
emphasised  by  the  very  fact  that  such  blamelessness  is 
the  first  requirement  for  Christian  conduct.  It  was  a 
feather  in  Daniel's  cap  that  the  president  and  princes 
were  foiled  in  their  attempt  to  pick  holes  in  his  con- 
duct, and  had  to  confess  that  they  would  not  '  find  any 
occasion  against  him,  except  we  find  it  concerning  the 
laws  of  his  God.'  God  is  working  in  us  in  order  that 
our  lives  should  be  such  that  malice  is  dumb  in  their 
presence.  Are  we  co-operating  with  Him?  We  are 
bound  to  satisfy  the  world's  requirements  of  Christian 
character.    They  are  sharp  critics  and  sometimes  un- 


284  PHILIPPI ANS  [ch.  ii. 

reasonable,  but  on  the  whole  it  would  not  be  a  bad  rule 
for  Christian  people,  *  Do  what  irreligious  men  expect 
you  to  do.'  The  worst  man  knows  more  than  the  beat 
man  practises,  and  his  conscience  is  quick  to  decide  the 
course  for  other  people.  Our  weaknesses  and  com- 
promises, and  love  of  the  world,  might  receive  a  salutary 
rebuke  if  we  would  try  to  meet  the  expectations  which 
'  the  man  in  the  street '  forms  of  us. 

'  Harmless '  is  more  correctly  pure,  all  of  a  piece, 
homogeneous  and  entire.  It  expresses  what  the 
Christian  life  should  be  in  itself,  whilst  the  former 
designation  describes  it  more  as  it  appears.  The  piece 
of  cloth  is  to  be  so  evenly  and  carefully  woven  that  if 
held  up  against  the  light  it  will  show  no  flaws  nor 
knots.  Many  a  professing  Christian  life  has  a  veneer  of 
godliness  nailed  thinly  over  a  solid  bulk  of  selfishness. 
There  are  many  goods  in  the  market  finely  dressed  so 
as  to  hide  that  the  warp  is  cotton  and  only  the  weft 
silk.  No  Christian  man  who  has  memory  and  self- 
knowledge  can  for  a  moment  claim  to  have  reached 
the  height  of  his  ideal ;  the  best  of  us,  at  the  best,  are 
like  Nebuchadnezzar's  image,  whose  feet  were  iron  and 
clay,  but  we  ought  to  strain  after  it  and  to  remember 
that  a  stain  shows  most  on  the  whitest  robe.  What 
made  David's  sin  glaring  and  memorable  was  its  con- 
tradiction of  his  habitual  nobler  self.  One  spot  more 
matters  little  on  a  robe  already  covered  with  many. 
The  world  is  fully  warranted  in  pointing  gleefully  or 
contemptuously  at  Christians'  inconsistencies,  and  we 
have  no  right  to  find  fault  with  their  most  pointed 
sarcasms,  or  their  severest  judgments.  It  is  those 
•  that  bear  the  vessels  of  the  Lord '  whose  burden 
imposes  on  them  the  duty  '  be  ye  clean,'  and  makes  any 
uncleanness  more  foul  in  them  than  in  any  other. 


▼8.14-16]  COPIES  OF  JESUS  285 

The  Apostle  sets  forth  the  place  and  function  of 
Christians  in  the  world,  by  bringing  together  in  the 
sharpest  contrast  the  *  children  of  God '  and  a  •  crooked 
and  perverse  generation.'  He  is  thinking  of  the  old 
description  in  Deuteronomy,  where  the  ancient  Israel 
is  charged  with  forgetting  *Thy  Father  that  hath 
bought  thee,'  and  as  showing  by  their  corruption  that 
they  are  a  'perverse  and  crooked  generation.'  The 
ancient  Israel  had  been  the  Son  of  God,  and  yet  had 
corrupted  itself;  the  Christian  Israel  are  '  sons  of  God' 
set  among  a  world  all  deformed,  twisted,  perverted. 
*  Perverse '  is  a  stronger  word  than  '  crooked,'  which 
latter  may  be  a  metaphor  for  moral  obliquity,  like  our 
own  right  and  wrong,  or  perhaps  points  to  personal 
deformity.  Be  that  as  it  may,  the  position  which  the 
Apostle  takes  is  plain  enough.  He  regards  the  two 
classes  as  broadly  separated  in  antagonism  in  the 
very  roots  of  their  being.  Because  the  •  sons  of  God ' 
are  set  in  the  midst  of  that  *  crooked  and  perverse 
generation '  constant  watchfulness  is  needed  lest  they 
should  conform,  constant  resort  to  their  Father  lest 
they  should  lose  the  sense  of  sonship,  and  constant 
effort  that  they  may  witness  of  Him. 

III.  The  solemn  reason  for  this  aim. 

That  is  drawn  from  a  consideration  of  the  office  and 
function  of  Christian  men.  Their  position  in  the  midst 
of  a  *  crooked  and  perverse  generation '  devolves  on 
them  a  duty  in  relation  to  that  generation.  They  are 
to  *  appear  as  lights  in  the  world.'  The  relation  between 
them  and  it  is  not  merely  one  of  contrast,  but  on  their 
parts  one  of  witness  and  example.  The  metaphor  of 
light  needs  no  explanation.  We  need  only  note  that 
the  word,  *  are  seen '  or  '  appear,'  is  indicative,  a  state- 
ment of  fact,  not  imperative,  a  command.   As  the  stars 


286  PHILIPPIANS  [ch.  ii. 

ligliten  the  darkness  with  their  myriad  lucid  points,  so 
in  the  divine  ideal  Christian  men  are  to  be  as  twinkling 
lights  in  the  abyss  of  darkness.  Their  light  rays  forth 
without  effort,  being  an  involuntary  efflux.  Possibly 
the  old  paradox  of  the  Psalmist  was  in  the  Apostle's 
mind,  which  speaks  of  the  eloquent  silence,  in  which 

•  there  is  no  speech  nor  language,  and  their  voice  is  not 
heard,'  but  yet  *  their  line  has  gone  out  through  all  the 
earth,  and  their  words  unto  the  end  of  the  world.' 

Christian  men  appear  as  lights  by  '  holding  forth  the 
word  of  life.'  In  themselves  they  have  no  brightness 
but  that  which  comes  from  raying  out  the  light  that  is 
in  them.  The  word  of  life  must  live,  giving  life  in  us, 
if  we  are  ever  to  be  seen  as  '  lights  in  the  world.'  As 
surely  as  the  electric  light  dies  out  of  a  lamp  when  the 
current  is  switched  off,  so  surely  shall  we  be  light  only 
when  we  are  '  in  the  Lord.'  There  are  many  so-called 
Christians  in  this  day  who  stand  tragically  unaware 
that  their  '  lamps  are  gone  out.'  When  the  sun  rises 
and  smites  the  mountain  tops  they  burn,  when  its  light 
falls  on  Memnon's  stony  lips  they  breathe  out  music, 

*  Arise,  shine,  for  thy  light  has  come.' 

Undoubtedly  one  way  of  '  holding  forth  the  word 
of  life'  must  be  to  speak  the  word,  but  silent  living 
'blameless  and  harmless  '  and  leaving  the  secret  of  the 
life  very  much  to  tell  itself  is  perhaps  the  best  way  for 
most  Christian  people  to  bear  witness.  Such  a  witness 
is  constant,  diffused  wherever  the  witness-bearer  is 
seen,  and  free  from  the  difficulties  that  beset  speech, 
and  especially  from  the  assumption  of  superiority 
which  often  gives  offence.  It  was  the  sight  of  '  your 
good  deeds'  to  which  Jesus  pointed  as  the  strongest 
reason  for  men's  'glorifying  your  Father.'  If  we  lived 
8uch  lives  there  would  be  less  need  for  preachers.    *  If 


T8.U-16]     A  WILLING  SACRIFICE  287 

any  will  not  hear  the  word  they  may  without  the  word 
be  won.'  And  reasonably  so,  for  Christianity  is  a  life 
and  cannot  be  all  told  in  words,  and  the  Gospel  is  the 
proclamation  of  freedom  from  sin,  and  is  best  preached 
and  proved  by  showing  that  we  are  free.  The  Gospel 
was  lived  as  well  as  spoken.  Christ's  life  was  Christ's 
mightiest  preaching. 

•  The  word  was  flesh  and  wrought 
With  human  hands  the  creed  of  creeds.' 

If  we  keep  near  to  Him  we  too  shall  witness,  and  if 
our  faces  shine  like  Moses'  as  he  came  down  from  the 
mountain,  or  like  Stephen's  in  the  council  chamber, 
men  will  '  take  knowledge  of  us  that  we  have  been 
with  Jesus,' 


A  WILLING  SACRIFICE 

'That  T  may  have  whereof  to  glory  in  the  day  of  Christ,  that  I  did  not  ran  in 
vain  neither  labour  in  vain.  17.  Yea,  and  if  I  am  offered  upon  the  sacrifice  and 
service  of  your  faith,  I  joy,  and  rejoice  with  you  all.  18.  And  in  the  same  manner 
do  ye  also  joy,  and  rejoice  with  me.'— Phil.  ii.  16-18  (R.V.). 

We  come  here  to  another  of  the  passages  in  which  the 
Apostle  pours  out  all  his  heart  to  his  beloved  Church. 
Perhaps  there  never  was  a  Christian  teacher  (always 
excepting  Christ)  who  spoke  more  about  himself  than 
Paul.  His  own  experience  was  always  at  hand  for 
illustration.  His  preaching  was  but  the  generalisation 
of  his  life.  He  had  felt  it  all  jfirst,  before  he  threw  it 
into  the  form  of  doctrine.  It  is  very  hard  to  keep  such 
a  style  from  becoming  egotism. 

This  paragraph  is  remarkable,  especially  if  we  con- 
sider that  this  is  introduced  as  a  motive  to  their  faith- 
fulness, that  thereby  they  will  contribute  to  his  joy  at 
the  last  great  testing.    There  must  have  been  a  very 


288  1>HILTPPIANS  [ch.  11. 

deep  love  between  Paul  and  the  Philippians  to  make 
such  words  as  these  true  and  appropriate.  They  open 
the  very  depths  of  his  heart  in  a  way  from  which  a  less 
noble  and  fervid  nature  would  have  shrunk,  and  express 
his  absolute  consecration  in  his  work,  and  his  eager 
desire  for  their  spiritual  good,  with  such  force  as  would 
have  been  exaggeration  in  most  men. 

We  have  here  a  wonderful  picture  of  the  relation 
between  him  and  the  church  at  Philippi  which  may  well 
stand  as  a  pattern  for  us  all.  I  do  not  mean  to  parallel 
our  relations  with  that  between  him  and  them,  but  it 
is  sufficiently  analogous  to  make  these  words  very 
weighty  and  solemn  for  us. 

I.  The  Philippians'  faithfulness  Paul's  glory  in  the 
day  of  Christ. 

The  Apostle  strikes  a  solemn  note,  which  was  always 
sounding  through  his  life,  when  he  points  to  that  great 
Day  of  Christ  as  the  time  when  his  work  was  to  be 
tested.  The  thought  of  that  gave  earnestness  to  all 
his  service,  and  in  conjunction  with  the  joyful  thought 
that,  however  his  work  might  be  marred  by  failures 
and  flaws,  he  himself  was  'accepted  in  the  beloved,' 
was  the  impulse  which  carried  him  on  through  a  life 
than  which  none  of  Christ's  servants  have  dared,  and 
done,  and  suffered  more  for  Him.  Paul  believed  that, 
according  to  the  results  of  that  test,  his  position  would 
in  some  sort  be  determined.  Of  course  he  does  not 
here  contradict  the  foundation  principle  of  his  whole 
Gospel,  that  salvation  is  not  the  result  of  our  own 
works,  or  virtues,  but  is  the  free  unmerited  gift  of 
Christ's  grace.  But  while  that  is  true,  it  is  none  the 
less  true,  that  the  degree  in  which  believers  receive 
that  gift  depends  on  their  Christian  character,  both  in 
their  life  on  earth  and  in  the  day  of  Christ.    One 


vs.  16-18]      A  WILLING  SACRIFICE  289 

element  in  that  character  is  faithful  work  for  Jesus. 
Faithful  work  indeed  is  not  necessarily  successful  work, 
and  many  who  are  welcomed  by  Jesus,  the  judge,  will 
have  the  memory  of  many  disappointments  and  few 
harvested  grains.  It  was  not  a  reaper,  'bringing  his 
sheaves  with  him,'  who  stayed  himself  against  the 
experience  of  failure,  by  the  assurance,  '  Though  Israel 
be  not  gathered  yet  shall  I  be  glorious  in  the  eyes  of 
the  Lord.'  If  our  want  of  success,  and  others'  lapse,  and 
apostasy  or  coldness  has  not  been  occasioned  by  any 
fault  of  ours,  there  will  be  no  diminution  of  our  reward. 
But  we  can  so  seldom  be  sure  of  that,  and  even  then 
there  will  be  an  absence  of  what  might  have  added  to 
gladness. 

We  need  not  do  more  than  note  that  the  text  plainly 
implies,  that  at  that  testing  time  men's  knowledge 
of  all  that  they  did,  and  the  results  of  it,  will  be 
complete.  Marvellous  as  it  seems  to  us,  with  our 
fragmentary  memories,  and  the  great  tracts  of  our 
lives  through  which  we  have  passed  mechanically,  and 
which  seem  to  have  left  no  trace  on  the  mirror  of  our 
consciousness,  we  still,  all  of  us,  have  experiences  which 
make  that  all-recovering  memory  credible.  Some  pass- 
ing association,  a  look,  a  touch,  an  odour,  a  sun-set 
sky,  a  chord  of  music  will  bring  before  us  some  trivial 
long-forgotton  incident  or  emotion,  as  the  chance 
thrust  of  a  boat-hook  will  draw  to  the  surface  by  its 
hair,  a  long-drowned  corpse.  If  we  are,  as  assuredly 
we  are,  writing  with  invisible  ink  our  whole  life's 
history  on  the  pages  of  our  own  minds,  and  if  we 
shall  have  to  read  them  all  over  again  one  day,  is  it  not 
tragic  that  most  of  us  scribble  the  pages  so  hastily  and 
carelessly,  and  forget  that,  'what  I  have  written  I 
have  written,'  and  what  I  have  written  I  must  read. 

T 


290  PHILIPPIANS  [ch.il 

But  there  is  another  way  of  looking  at  Paul's  words 
as  being  an  indication  of  his  warm  love  for  the 
Philippians.  Even  among  the  glories,  he  would  feel 
his  heart  filled  with  new  gladness  when  he  found  them 
there.  The  hunger  for  the  good  of  others  which 
cannot  bear  to  think  even  of  heaven  without  their 
presence  has  been  a  master  note  of  all  true  Christian 
teachers,  and  without  it  there  will  be  little  of  the  toil, 
of  which  Paul  speaks  in  the  context,  '  running  and 
labouring.'  He  that  would  win  men's  hearts  for  any 
great  cause  must  give  his  heart  to  them. 

That  Paul  should  have  felt  warranted  in  using  such 
a  motive  with  the  Philippians  tells  how  surely  he 
reckoned  on  their  true  and  deep  love.  He  believes 
that  they  care  enough  for  him  to  feel  the  power  as  a 
motive  with  them,  that  their  faithfulness  will  make 
Paul  more  blessed  amidst  the  blessings  of  heaven.  Oh  ! 
if  such  love  knit  together  all  Christian  teachers  and 
their  hearers  in  this  time,  and  if  the  'Day  of  Christ' 
burned  before  them,  as  it  did  before  him,  and  if  the 
vision  stirred  to  such  running  and  labouring  as  his, 
teachers  and  taught  would  oftener  have  to  say,  'We 
are  your  rejoicing,  even  as  ye  are  also  ours  in  the  Day 
of  our  Lord  Jesus.'  The  voice  of  the  man  who  is  in  the 
true  *  Apostolic  Succession '  will  dare  to  make  the 
appeal,  knowing  that  it  will  call  forth  an  abundant 
answer,  '  Look  to  yourselves  that  we  lose  not  the 
things  which  we  have  wrought,  but  that  we  receive  a 
full  reward.* 

II.  Paul's  death  an  aid  to  the  Philippians'  faith. 

The  general  meaning  of  the  Apostle's  words  is,  '  If  I 
have  not  only  to  run  and  labour,  but  to  die  in  the 
discharge  of  my  Apostolic  Mission,  I  joy  and  rejoice, 
and  I  bid  you  rejoice  with  me,'    We  need  only  note 


vs.  16-18]     A  WILLING  SACRIFICE  291 

that  the  Apostle  here  casts  his  language  into  the  forms 
consecrated  for  sacrifice.  He  will  not  speak  of  death 
by  its  own  ugly  and  threadbare  name,  but  thinks  of 
himself  as  a  devoted  victim,  and  of  his  death  as  making 
the  sacrifice  complete.  In  the  figure  there  is  a  solemn 
scorn  of  death,  and  at  the  same  time  a  joyful  recog- 
nition that  it  is  the  means  of  bringing  him  more  nearly 
to  God,  with  whom  he  would  fain  be.  It  is  interesting, 
as  showing  the  persistence  of  these  thoughts  in  the 
Apostle's  mind,  that  the  word  rendered  in  our  text 
•offered,'  which  fully  means  'poured  out  as  a  drink 
offering,'  occurs  again  in  the  same  connection  in  the 
great  words  of  the  swan  song  in  ii.  Timothy,  'I  am 
already  being  offered,  and  the  time  of  my  departure  is 
come.'  Death  looked  to  him,  when  he  looked  it  in  the 
eyes,  and  the  block  was  close  by  him,  as  it  had  done 
when  he  spoke  of  it  to  his  Philippian  friends. 

It  is  to  be  noted,  in  order  to  bring  out  more  vividly 
the  force  of  the  figure,  that  Paul  here  speaks  of 
the  libation  being  poured  'on'  the  sacrifice,  as  was  the 
practice  in  heathen  ritual.  The  sacrifice  is  the  victim, 
'service'  is  the  technical  word  for  priestly  ministra- 
tion, and  the  general  meaning  is,  'If  my  blood  is 
poured  out  as  a  drink  offering  on  the  sacrifice  minis- 
tered by  you,  which  is  your  faith,  I  joy  with  you  all.' 
This  man  had  no  fear  of  death,  and  no  shrinking  from 
'  leaving  the  warm  precincts  of  the  cheerful  day.'  He 
was  equally  ready  to  live  or  to  die  as  might  best  serve 
the  name  of  Jesus,  for  to  him  '  to  live  was  Christ,'  and 
therefore  to  him  it  could  be  nothing  but  '  gain '  to  die. 
Here  he  seems  to  be  treating  his  death  as  a  possibility, 
but  as  a  possibility  only,  for  almost  immediately  after- 
wards he  says,  that  he  'trusts  in  the  Lord  that  I 
myself  will  come  shortly.'    It  is  interesting  to  notice 


292  PHILIPPIANS  [ch.  ii. 

the  contrast  between  his  mood  of  mind  here  and  that 
in  the  previous  chapter  (i.  25)  where  the  'desire  to 
depart  and  to  be  with  Christ'  is  deliberately  suppressed, 
because  his  continuous  life  is  regarded  as  essential  for 
the  Philippians'  '  progress  and  joy  in  faith.'  Here  he 
discerns  that  perhaps  his  death  would  do  more  for  their 
faith  than  would  his  life,  and  being  ready  for  either  al- 
ternative he  welcomes  the  possibility.  May  we  not  see 
in  the  calm  heart,  which  is  at  leisure  to  think  of  death 
in  such  a  fashion,  a  pattern  for  us  all?  Remember  how 
near  and  real  his  danger  was.  Nero  was  not  in  the 
habit  of  letting  a  man,  whose  head  had  been  in  the 
mouth  of  the  lion,  take  it  out  unhurt.  Paul  is  no 
eloquent  writer  or  poet  playing  with  the  idea  of  death, 
and  trying  to  say  pretty  things  about  it,  but  a  man 
who  did  not  know  when  the  blow  would  come,  but  did 
know  that  it  would  come  before  long. 

We  may  point  here  to  the  two  great  thoughts  in 
Paul's  words,  and  notice  the  priesthood  and  sacrifice 
of  life,  and  the  sacrifice  and  libation  of  death.  The 
Philippians  offered  as  their  sacrifice  their  faith,  and  all 
the  works  which  flow  therefrom.  Is  that  our  idea  of 
life?  Is  it  our  idea  of  faith?  We  have  no  gifts  to 
bring,  we  come  empty-handed  unless  we  carry  in  our 
hands  the  offering  of  our  faith,  which  includes  the 
surrender  of  our  will,  and  the  giving  away  of  our 
hearts,  and  is  essentially  laying  hold  of  Christ's  sacrifice. 
When  we  come  empty,  needy,  sinful,  but  cleaving 
wholly  to  that  perfect  sacrifice  of  the  Great  Priest,  we 
too  become  priests  and  our  poor  gift  is  accepted. 

But  another  possibility  than  that  of  a  life  of  running 
and  labour  presented  itself  to  Paul,  and  it  is  a  revelation 
of  the  tranquillity  of  his  heart  in  the  midst  of  impend- 
ing danger,  all  the  more  pathetic  because  it  is  entirely 


Ys.  16-18]     A  WILLING  SACRIFICE  293 

unconscious,  that  he  should  be  free  to  cast  his  antici- 
pations into  that  calm  metaphor  of  being,  'offered 
upon  the  sacrifice  and  service  of  your  faith.'  His  heart 
beats  no  faster,  nor  does  the  faintest  shadow  of  reluc- 
tance cross  his  will,  when  he  thinks  of  his  death.  All 
the  repulsive  accompaniments  of  a  Roman  execution 
fade  away  from  his  imagination.  These  are  but 
negligible  accidents ;  the  substantial  reality  which 
obscures  them  all  is  that  his  blood  will  be  poured  out 
as  a  libation,  and  that  by  it  his  brethren's  faith  will  be 
strengthened.  To  this  man  death  had  finally  and 
completely  ceased  to  be  a  terror,  and  had  become  what 
it  should  be  to  all  Christians,  a  voluntary  surrender 
to  God,  an  offering  to  Him,  an  act  of  worship,  of  trust, 
and  of  thankful  praise.  Seneca,  in  his  death,  poured 
out  a  libation  to  Jupiter  the  Liberator,  and  if  we  could 
only  know  beforehand  what  death  delivers  us  from, 
and  admits  us  to,  we  should  not  be  so  prone  to  call  it 
•  the  last  enemy.'  What  Paul's  death  was  for  himself 
in  the  process  of  his  perfecting  called  forth,  and 
warranted,  the  '  joy '  with  which  he  anticipated  it.  It 
did  no  more  for  him  than  it  will  do  for  each  of  us,  and 
if  our  vision  were  as  clear,  and  our  faith  as  firm  as  his, 
we  should  be  more  ready  than,  alas !  we  too  often  are, 
to  catch  up  the  exulting  note  with  which  he  hails  the 
possibility  of  its  coming. 

But  it  is  not  the  personal  bearing  only  of  his  death 
that  gives  him  joy.  He  thinks  of  it  mainly  as  contri- 
buting to  the  furtherance  of  the  faith  of  others.  For 
that  end  he  was  spending  the  effort  and  toil  of  an 
effortful  and  toilsome  life,  and  was  equally  ready  to 
meet  a  violent  and  shameful  death.  He  knew  that  *  the 
blood  of  the  martyrs  is  the  seed  of  the  Church,'  and 
rejoiced,  and  called  upon  his  brethren  also  to  '  joy  and 


294  PHILIPPIANS  [ch.ii. 

rejoice'  with  him  in  his  shedding  of  his  martyr's 
blood. 

The  Philippians  might  well  have  thought,  as  we  all 
are  tempted  to  think,  that  the  withdrawal  of  those 
round  whom  our  hearts  desperately  cling,  and  who 
seem  to  us  to  bring  love  and  trust  nearer  to  us,  can 
only  be  loss,  but  surely  the  example  in  our  text  may 
well  speak  to  our  hearts  of  the  way  in  which  we  should 
look  at  death  for  ourselves,  and  for  our  dearest.  Their 
very  withdrawal  may  send  us  nearer  to  Christ.  The 
holy  memories  which  linger  in  the  sky,  like  the  radiance 
of  a  sunken  sun,  may  clothe  familiar  truths  with  un- 
familiar power  and  loveliness.  The  thought  of  where 
the  departed  have  gone  may  lift  our  thoughts  wistfully 
thither  with  a  new  feeling  of  home.  The  path  that 
they  have  trodden  may  become  less  strange  to  us,  and 
the  victory  that  they  have  won  may  prophesy  that  we 
too  shall  be  '  more  than  conquerors  through  Him  that 
loveth  us.'  So  the  mirror  broken  may  turn  us  to  the 
sun,  and  the  passing  of  the  dearest  that  can  die  may 
draw  us  to  the  Dearer  who  lives. 

Paul,  living,  rejoiced  in  the  prospect  of  death.  We 
may  be  sure  that  he  rejoiced  in  it  no  less  dead  than 
living.  And  we  may  permissibly  think  of  this  text  as 
suggesting  how 

'  The  saints  on  earth  and  all  the  dead 
But  one  communion  make,' 

and  are  to  be  united  in  one  joy.  They  rejoice  for  their 
own  sakes,  but  their  joy  is  not  self-absorbed,  and  so 
putting  them  farther  away  from  us.  They  look  back 
upon  earth,  the  runnings  and  labourings  of  the  un- 
forgotten  life  here;  and  are  glad  to  bear  in  their  hearts 
the  indubitable  token  that  they  have  '  not  run  in  vain, 


vs.  16-18]       PAUL  AND  TIMOTHY  295 

neither  laboured  in  vain.'  But  surely  the  depth  of 
their  own  repose  will  not  make  them  indifferent  to 
those  who  are  still  in  the  midst  of  struggle  and  toil, 
nor  the  fulness  of  their  own  felicity  make  them  forget 
those  whom  they  loved  of  old,  and  love  now  with  the 
perfect  love  of  Heaven.  It  is  hard  for  us  to  rise  to 
complete  sympathy  with  these  serenely  blessed  spirits, 
but  yet  we  too  should  rejoice.  Not  indeed  to  the  ex- 
clusion of  sorrow,  nor  to  the  neglect  of  the  great 
purpose  to  be  effected  in  us  by  the  withdrawal,  as  by 
the  presence  of  dear  ones,  the  furtherance  of  our  faith, 
but  having  made  sure  that  that  purpose  has  been 
effected  in  us,  we  should  then  give  solemn  thanks- 
givings if  it  has.  It  is  sad  and  strange  to  think  of  how 
opposite  are  the  feelings  about  their  departure,  of  those 
who  have  gone  and  of  those  who  are  left.  Would  it 
not  be  better  that  we  should  try  to  share  theirs  and 
so  bring  about  a  true  union?  We  may  be  sure  that 
their  deepest  desire  is  that  we  should.  If  some  lips 
that  we  shall  never  hear  any  more,  till  we  come  where 
they  are,  could  speak,  would  not  they  bring  to  us  as 
their  message  from  Heaven,  Do  *ye  also  joy  and  rejoice 
with  me  *  ? 


PAUL  AND  TIMOTHY 

'But  I  hope  in  the  Lord  Jesus  to  send  Timothy  shortly  unto  you,  that  1  also  may 
be  of  good  comfort,  when  I  know  your  state.  20.  For  I  have  no  man  likeminded, 
who  will  care  truly  for  your  state.  21.  For  they  all  seek  their  own,  not  the  things 
of  Jesus  Christ.  22.  But  ye  know  the  proof  of  him,  that,  as  a  child  serveth  a 
father,  so  he  served  with  me  in  furtherance  of  the  gospel.  23.  Him  therefore  I 
hope  to  send  forthwith,  so  soon  as  I  shall  see  how  it  will  go  with  me :  24.  But  I 
trust  in  the  Lord  that  I  myself  also  shall  come  shortly.'— Phil.  ii.  19-24  (R.V.). 

Like  all  great  men  Paul  had  a  wonderful  power  of 
attaching   followers    to    himself.      The   mass   of   the 


296  PHILIPPIANS  [oh.ii. 

planet  draws  in  small  aerolites  which  catch  fire  as 
they  pass  through  its  atmosphere.  There  is  no  more 
beautiful  page  in  the  history  of  the  early  Church  than 
the  story  of  Paul  and  his  companions.  They  gathered 
round  him  with  such  devotion,  and  followed  him  with 
such  love.  They  were  not  small  men.  Luke  and 
Aquila  were  among  them,  and  they  would  have  been 
prominent  in  most  companies,  but  gladly  took  a  place 
second  to  Paul.  He  impressed  his  own  personality  and 
his  type  of  teaching  on  his  followers  as  Luther  did  on 
his,  and  as  many  another  great  teacher  has  done. 

Among  all  these  Timothy  seems  to  have  held  a 
special  place.  Paul  first  found  him  on  his  second 
journey  either  at  Derbe  or  Lystra.  His  mother,  Eunice, 
was  already  a  believer,  his  father  a  Greek.  Timothy 
seems  to  have  been  converted  on  Paul's  first  visit,  for 
on  his  second  he  was  already  a  disciple  well  reported 
of,  and  Paul  more  than  once  calls  him  his  '  son  in  the 
faith.'  He  seems  to  have  come  in  to  take  John  Mark's 
place  as  the  Apostle's  *  minister,'  and  from  that  time  to 
have  been  usually  Paul's  trusted  attendant.  We  hear 
of  him  as  with  the  Apostle  on  his  first  visit  to  Philippi, 
and  to  have  gone  with  him  to  Thessalonica  and  Beroea, 
but  then  to  have  been  parted  until  Corinth.  Thence 
Paul  went  quickly  up  to  Jerusalem  and  back  to 
Antioch,  from  which  he  set  out  again  to  visit  the 
churches,  and  made  a  special  stay  in  Ephesus.  While 
there  he  planned  a  visit  to  Macedonia  and  Achaia,  in 
preparation  for  one  to  Jerusalem,  and  finally  to  Rome. 
So  he  sent  Timothy  and  Erastus  on  ahead  to  Macedonia, 
which  would  of  course  include  Philippi.  After  that 
visit  to  Macedonia  and  Greece  Paul  returned  to 
Philippi,  from  which  he  sailed  with  Timothy  in  his 
company.    He  was  probably  with  him  all  the  wa^  to 


▼8.19-24]       PAUL  AND  TIMOTHY  297 

Rome,  and  we  find  him  mentioned  as  sharer  in  the 
imprisonment  both  here  and  in  Colossians. 

The  references  made  to  him  point  to  a  very  sweet, 
good,  pure  and  gracious  character  without  much 
strength,  needing  to  be  stayed  and  stiffened  by  the 
stronger  character,  but  full  of  sympathy,  unselfish 
disregard  of  self,  and  consecrated  love  to  Christ.  He 
had  been  surrounded  with  a  hallowed  atmosphere  from 
his  youth,  and  'from  a  child  had  known  the  holy 
Scriptures,'  and  '  prophecies '  like  fluttering  doves  had 
gone  before  on  him.  He  had  'often  infirmities,'  and 
'tears.'  He  needed  to  be  roused  to  'stir  up  the  gift 
that  was  in  him,'  and  braced  up  '  not  to  be  ashamed,* 
but  to  fight  against  the  disabling  *  spirit  of  fear,'  and 
to  be  '  strong  in  the  grace  that  is  in  Christ  Jesus.' 

The  bond  between  these  two  was  evidently  very 
close,  and  the  Apostle  felt  something  of  a  paternal 
interest  in  the  very  weakness  of  character  which  was 
in  such  contrast  to  his  own  strength,  and  which  obvi- 
ously dreaded  the  discouragement  which  was  likely  to 
be  produced  by  his  own  martyrdom.  This  favourite 
companion  he  will  now  send  to  his  favourite  church. 
The  verses  of  our  text  express  that  intention,  and  give 
us  a  glimpse  into  the  Apostle's  thoughts  and  feelings 
in  his  imprisonment. 

I.  The  prisoner's  longing  and  hope. 

The  first  point  which  strikes  us  in  this  self -revelation 
of  Paul's  is  his  conscious  uncertainty  as  to  his  future. 
In  the  previous  chapter  (ver.  25)  he  is  confident  that 
he  will  live.  In  the  verses  immediately  preceding  our 
text  he  faces  the  possibility  of  death.  Here  he  recog- 
nises the  uncertainty  but  still  '  trusts '  that  he  will  be 
liberated,  but  yet  he  does  not  know  '  how  it  may  go 
with '  him.    We  think  of  him  in  his  lodging  sometimes 


298  PHILIPPIANS  [cH.li. 

hoping  and  sometimes  doubting.  He  had  a  tyrant's 
caprice  to  depend  on,  and  knew  how  a  moment's  whim 
might  end  all.  Surely  his  way  of  bearing  that  suspense 
was  very  noteworthy  and  noble.  It  is  difficult  to  keep 
a  calm  heart,  and  still  more  difficult  to  keep  on  steadily 
at  work,  when  any  moment  might  bring  the  victor's 
axe.  Suspense  almost  enforces  idleness,  but  Paul 
crowded  these  moments  of  his  prison  time  with  letters, 
and  Ephesians,  Philippians,  Colossians,  and  Philemon 
are  the  fruits  for  which  we  are  indebted  to  a  period 
which  would  have  been  to  many  men  a  reason  for 
throwing  aside  all  work. 

How  calmly  too  he  speaks  of  the  uncertain  issue! 
Surely  never  was  the  possibility  of  death  more  quietly 
spoken  of  than  in  '  so  soon  as  I  shall  see  how  it  will  go 
with  me.'  That  means — '  as  soon  as  my  fate  is  decided, 
be  it  what  it  may,  I  will  send  Timothy  to  tell  you.' 
What  a  calm  pulse  he  must  have  had!  There  is  no 
attitudinising  here,  all  is  perfectly  simple  and  natural. 
Can  we  look,  do  we  habitually  look,  into  the  uncertain 
future  with  such  a  temper — accepting  all  that  may  be 
in  its  grey  mists,  and  feeling  that  our  task  is  to  fill  the 
present  with  strenuous  loving  service,  leaving  to- 
morrow with  all  its  alternatives,  even  that  tremendous 
one  of  life  and  death,  to  Him  who  will  shape  it  to  a 
perfect  end  ? 

We  note,  further,  the  purpose  of  Paul's  love.  It  is 
beautiful  to  see  how  he  yearns  over  these  Philippians 
and  feels  that  his  joy  will  be  increased  when  he  hears 
from  them.  He  is  sure,  as  he  believes,  to  hear  good, 
and  news  which  will  be  a  comfort.  Among  the  souls 
whom  he  bore  on  his  heart  were  many  in  the  Mace- 
donian city,  and  a  word  from  them  would  bo  like  *  cold 
water  to  a  thirsty  soul.' 


vs.  19-24]      PAUL  AND  TIMOTHY  299 

What  a  noble  suppression  of  self ;  how  deep  and 
strong  the  tie  that  bound  him  to  them  must  have  been ! 
Is  there  not  a  lesson  here  for  all  Christian  workers,  for 
all  teachers,  preachers,  parents,  that  no  good  is  to  be 
done  without  loving  sympathy?  Unless  our  hearts  go 
out  to  people  we  shall  never  reach  their  hearts.  We  may 
talk  to  them  for  ever,  but  unless  we  have  this  loving 
sympathy  we  might  as  well  be  silent.  It  is  possible  to 
pelt  people  with  the  Gospel,  and  to  produce  the  effect 
of  flinging  stones  at  them.  Much  Christian  work  comes 
to  nothing  mainly  for  that  reason. 

And  how  deep  a  love  does  he  show  in  his  depriving 
himself  of  Timothy  for  their  sakes,  and  in  his  reason 
for  sending  him  !  Those  reasons  would  have  been  for 
most  of  us  the  strongest  reason  for  keeping  him.  It  is 
not  everybody  who  will  denude  himself  of  the  help  of 
one  who  serves  him  '  as  a  child  serveth  a  father,'  and 
will  part  with  the  only  like-minded  friend  he  has, 
because  his  loving  eye  will  clearly  see  the  state  of 
others. 

Paul's  expression  of  his  purpose  to  send  Timothy  is 
very  much  more  than  a  piece  of  emotional  piety.  He 
'  hopes  in  the  Lord '  to  accomplish  his  design,  and  that 
hope  so  rooted  and  conditioned  is  but  one  instance  of 
the  all-comprehending  law  of  his  life,  that,  to  him,  to 
'  live  is  Christ.'  His  whole  being  was  so  interpenetrated 
with  Christ's  that  all  his  thoughts  and  feelings  were 
*in  the  Lord  Jesus.'  So  should  our  purposes  be.  Our 
hopes  should  be  derived  from  union  with  Him.  They 
should  not  be  the  play  of  our  own  fancy  or  imagination. 
They  should  be  held  in  submission  to  him,  and  ever  with 
the  limitation,  '  Not  as  I  will,  but  as  Thou  wilt.'  We 
should  be  trusting  to  Him  to  fulfil  them.  If  thus  we 
hope,  our  hopes  may  lead  us  nearer  to  Jesus  instead  of 


300  PHILIPPIANS  [CH.  ii. 

tempting  us  away  from  Him  by  delusive  brightnesses. 
There  is  a  religious  use  of  hope  not  only  when  it  is 
directed  to  heavenly  certainties,  and  '  enters  within  the 
veil,'  but  even  when  occupied  about  earthly  things. 
Spenser  twice  paints  for  us  the  figure  of  Hope,  one  has 
always  something  of  dread  in  her  blue  eyes,  the  other, 
and  the  other  only,  leans  on  the  anchor,  and  '  maketh 
not  ashamed ' ;  and  her  name  is  '  Hope  in  the  Lord.' 

II.  The  prisoner  solitary  among  self-seeking  men. 

With  wonderful  self-surrender  the  Apostle  thinks  of 
his  lack  of  like-minded  companions  as  being  a  reason 
for  depriving  himself  of  the  only  like-minded  one  who 
was  left  with  him.  He  felt  that  Timothy's  sympathetic 
soul  would  truly  care  for  the  Philippians'  condition, 
and  would  minister  to  it  lovingly.  He  could  rely  that 
Timothy  would  have  no  selfish  by-ends  to  serve,  but 
would  seek  the  things  of  Jesus  Christ.  We  know  too 
little  of  the  circumstances  of  Paul's  imprisonment  to 
know  how  he  came  to  be  thus  lonely.  In  the  other 
Epistles  of  the  Captivity  we  have  mention  of  a  con- 
siderable group  of  friends,  many  of  whom  would 
certainly  have  been  included  in  a  list  of  the  '  like- 
minded.'  We  hear,  for  example,  of  Tychicus,  Onesimus, 
Aristarchus,  John  Mark,  Epaphras,  and  Luke.  What 
had  become  of  them  all  we  do  not  know.  They  were 
evidently  away  on  Christian  service,  somewhere  or 
other,  or  some  of  them  perhaps  had  not  yet  arrived. 
At  all  events  for  some  reason  Paul  was  for  the  time 
left  alone  but  for  Timothy.  Not  that  there  were  no 
Christian  men  in  Rome,  but  of  those  who  could  have 
been  sent  on  such  an  errand  there  were  none  in  whom 
love  to  Christ  and  care  for  His  cause  and  flock  were 
strong  enough  to  mark  them  as  fit  for  it. 

So  then  we  have  to  take  account  of  Paul's  loneliness 


vs.  19-24]       PAUL  AND  TIMOTHY  801 

in  addition  to  his  other  sorrows,  and  we  may  well  mark 
how  calmly  and  uncomplainingly  he  bears  it.  We  are 
perpetually  hearing  complaints  of  isolation  and  the 
difficulty  of  finding  sympathy,  or  *  people  who  under- 
stand me.'  That  is  often  the  complaint  of  a  morbid 
nature,  or  of  one  which  has  never  given  itself  the 
trouble  of  trying  to  '  understand '  others,  or  of  showing 
the  sympathy  for  which  it  says  that  it  thirsts.  And 
many  of  these  complaining  spirits  might  take  a  lesson 
from  the  lonely  Apostle.  There  never  was  a  man, 
except  Paul's  Master  and  ours,  who  cared  more  for 
human  sympathy,  had  his  own  heart  fuller  of  it,  and 
received  less  of  it  from  others  than  Paul.  But  he  had 
discovered  what  it  would  be  blessedness  for  us  all  to 
lay  to  heart,  that  a  man  who  has  Christ  for  his  com- 
panion can  do  without  others,  and  that  a  heart  in 
which  there  whispers, '  Lo,  I  am  with  you  always,'  can 
never  be  utterly  solitary. 

May  we  not  take  the  further  lesson  that  the  sympathy 
which  we  should  chiefly  desire  is  sympathy  and  fellow- 
service  in  Christian  work?  Paul  did  not  want  like- 
minded  people  in  order  that  he  might  have  the  luxury 
of  enjoying  their  sympathy,  but  what  he  wanted  was 
allies  in  his  work  for  Christ.  It  was  sympathy  in  his 
care  for  the  Philippians  that  he  sought  for  in  his 
messenger.  And  that  is  the  noblest  form  of  like- 
mindedness  that  we  can  desire — some  one  to  hold  the 
ropes  for  us. 

Note,  too,  that  Paul  does  not  weakly  complain  because 
he  had  no  helpers.  Good  and  earnest  men  are  very 
apt  to  say  much  about  the  half-hearted  way  in  which 
their  brethren  take  up  some  cause  in  which  they  are 
eagerly  interested,  and  sometimes  to  abandon  it  alto- 
gether for  that  reason.     May  not  such  faint  hearts 


302  PHILIPPIANS  [cH.li. 

learn  a  lesson  from  him  who  had  *no  man  like-minded,' 
and  yet  never  dreamt  of  whimpering  because  of  it,  or 
of  flinging  down  his  tools  because  of  the  indolence  of 
his  fellow- workers  ? 

There  is  another  point  to  be  observed  in  the  Apostle's 
words  here.  He  felt  that  their  attitude  to  Christ  deter- 
mined his  affinities  with  men.  He  could  have  no  deep 
and  true  fellowship  with  others,  whatever  their  name 
to  live,  who  were  daily  *  seeking  their  own,'  and  at  the 
same  time  leaving  unsought  'the  things  of  Jesus  Christ.' 
They  who  are  not  alike  in  their  deepest  aims  can  have 
no  real  'kindred.  Must  we  not  say  that  hosts  of  so- 
called  Christian  people  do  not  seem  to  feel,  if  one  can 
judge  by  the  company  they  affect,  that  the  deepest 
bond  uniting  men  is  that  which  binds  them  to  Jesus 
Christ?  I  would  press  the  question,  Do  we  feel  that 
nothing  draws  us  so  close  to  men  as  common  love  to 
Jesus,  and  that  if  we  are  not  alike  on  that  cardinal 
point  there  is  a  deep  gulf  of  separation  beneath  a 
deceptive  surface  of  union,  an  unfathomable  gorge 
marked  by  a  quaking  film  of  earth  ? 

It  is  a  solemn  estimate  of  some  professing  Christians 
which  the  Apostle  gives  here,  if  he  is  including  the 
members  of  the  Roman  Church  in  his  judgment  that 
they  are  not  'like-minded'  with  him,  and  are  'seeking 
their  own,  not  the  things  of  Jesus  Christ.'  We  may 
rather  hope  that  he  is  speaking  of  others  around  him, 
and  that  for  some  reason  unknown  to  us  he  was  at  the 
time  secluded  from  the  Roman  Christians.  He  brings 
out  w^ith  unflinching  precision  the  choice  which  deter- 
mines a  life.  There  is  always  that  terrible  *  either — or.' 
To  live  for  Christ  is  the  antagonist,  and  only  antagonist 
of  life  for  self.  To  live  for  self  is  death.  To  live 
for  Jesus  is   the   only  life.     There   are  two  centres, 


vs.  19-24]      PAUL  AND  TIMOTHY  803 

heliocentric  and  geocentric  as  the  scientists  say.  We 
can  choose  round  which  we  shall  draw  our  orbit,  and 
everything  depends  on  the  choice  which  we  make.  To 
seek  '  the  things  of  Jesus  Christ'  is  sure  to  lead  to,  and 
is  the  only  basis  of,  care  for  men.  Religion  is  the  parent 
of  compassion,  and  if  we  are  looking  for  a  man  who 
will  care  truly  for  the  state  of  others,  we  must  do  as 
Paul  did,  look  for  him  among  those  who  'seek  the 
things  of  Jesus  Christ.' 

III.  The  prisoner's  joy  in  loving  co-operation. 

The  Apostle's  eulogium  on  Timothy  points  to  his 
long  and  intimate  association  with  Paul  and  to  the 
Philippians'  knowledge  of  him  as  well  as  to  the 
Apostle's  clinging  to  him.  There  is  a  piece  of  delicate 
beauty  in  the  words  which  w^e  may  pause  for  a  moment 
to  point  out.  Paul  writes  as  '  a  child  serveth  a  father,' 
and  the  natural  sequence  would  have  been  '  so  he  served 
me,'  but  he  remembers  that  the  service  was  not  to  him, 
Paul,  but  to  another,  and  so  he  changes  the  words  and 
says  he  '  served  with  me  in  furtherance  of  the  Gospel.' 
We  are  both  servants  alike — Christ's  servants  for  the 
Gospel. 

Paul's  joy  in  Timothy's  loving  co-operation  was  so 
deep  because  Paul's  whole  heart  was  set  on  '  the  further- 
ance of  the  Gospel.'  Help  towards  that  end  was  help 
indeed.  We  may  measure  the  ardour  and  intensity  of 
Paul's  devotion  to  his  apostolic  work  by  the  warmth 
of  gratitude  which  he  shows  to  his  helper.  They  who 
contribute  to  our  reaching  our  chief  desire  win  our 
warmest  love,  and  the  catalogue  of  our  helpers  follows 
the  order  of  the  list  of  our  aims.  Timothy  brought  to 
Paul  no  assistance  to  procure  any  of  the  common 
objects  of  human  desires.  Wealth,  reputation,  success 
in  any  of  the  pursuits  which  attract  most  mien  might 


304  PHILIPPIANS  [ch.il 

have  been  held  out  to  the  Apostle  and  not  been  thought 
worth  stooping  to  take,  nor  would  the  offerer  have 
been  thanked,  but  any  proffered  service  that  had  the 
smallest  bearing  on  that  great  work  to  which  Paul's 
life  was  given,  and  which  his  conscience  told  him  there 
would  be  a  curse  on  himself  if  he  did  not  fulfil,  was 
welcomed  as  a  priceless  gift.  Do  we  arrange  the  lists 
of  our  helpers  on  the  same  fashion,  and  count  that  they 
serve  us  best  who  help  us  to  serve  Christ  ?  It  should  be 
as  much  the  purpose  of  every  Christian  life  as  it  was 
that  of  Paul  to  spread  the  salvation  and  glory  of  the 
•  name  that  is  above  every  name.'  If  we  lived  as  con- 
tinually under  the  influence  of  that  truth  as  he  did, 
we  should  construe  the  circumstances  of  our  lives, 
whether  helpful  or  hindering,  very  differently,  and  we 
could  shake  the  world. 

Christian  unity  is  very  good  and  infinitely  to  be 
desired,  but  the  true  field  on  which  it  should  display 
itself  is  that  of  united  work  for  the  common  Lord. 
The  men  who  have  marched  side  by  side  through  a 
campaign  are  knit  together  as  nothing  else  would  bind 
them.  Even  two  horses  drawing  one  carriage  will 
have  ways  and  feelings  and  a  common  understanding, 
which  they  would  never  have  attained  in  any  other 
way.  There  is  nothing  like  common  work  for  clearing 
away  mists.  Much  so-called  Christian  sympathy  and 
like-mind edness  are  something  like  the  penal  cranks 
that  used  to  be  in  jails,  which  generated  immense 
power  on  this  side  of  the  wall  but  ground  out  nothing 
on  the  other. 

Let  us  not  forget  that  in  the  field  of  Christian  service 
there  is  room  for  all  manner  of  workers,  and  that  they 
are  associated,  however  different  their  work.  Paul 
often   calls   Timothy  his   'fellow- labourer,'  and   once 


vs.  19-24]  PAUL  AND  EPAPHRODITUS     305 

gives  him  the  eulogium,  •  he  worketh  the  work  of  the 
Lord  as  I  also  do.'  Think  of  the  difference  between  the 
two  men  in  age,  endowment,  and  sphere !  Apparently 
Timothy  at  first  had  very  subordinate  work  taking 
John  Mark's  place,  and  is  described  as  being  one  of 
those  who  '  ministered '  to  Paul.  It  is  the  cup  of  cold 
water  over  again.  All  work  done  for  the  same  Lord, 
and  with  the  same  motive  is  the  same ;  '  he  that  re- 
ceiveth  a  prophet  in  the  name  of  a  prophet  shall  receive 
a  prophet's  reward.'  When  Paul  associates  Timothy 
with  himself  he  is  copying  from  afar  off  his  Lord,  who 
lets  us  think  of  even  our  poor  deeds  as  done  by  those 
whom  He  does  not  disdain  to  call  His  fellow-workers. 
It  would  be  worth  living  for  if,  at  the  last,  He  should 
acknowledge  us,  and  say  even  of  us,  *he  hath  served 
with  Me  in  the  Gospel.' 


PAUL  AND  EPAPHRODITUS 

'But  I  counted  it  necessary  to  send  to  yon  Epaphroditus,  my  brother  and  fellow- 
worker  and  fellow-soldier,  and  your  messenger  and  minister  to  my  need.  26. 
Since  he  longed  after  you  all,  and  was  sore  troubled,  because  ye  had  heard  that  he 
was  sick.  27.  For  indeed  he  was  sick  nigh  unto  death :  but  God  had  mercy  on 
him  ;  and  not  on  him  only,  but  on  me  also,  that  I  might  not  have  sorrow  upon 
sorrow.  28.  I  have  sent  him  therefore  the  more  diligently,  that,  when  ye  see  him 
again,  ye  may  rejoice,  and  that  I  may  be  the  less  sorrowful.  29.  Receive  him 
therefore  in  the  Lord  with  all  joy ;  and  hold  such  in  honour :  30.  Because  for  the 
work  of  Christ  he  came  nigh  uuto  death,  hazarding  his  life  to  supply  that  which 
was  lacking  in  your  service  toward  me.'— Phil.  ii.  25-30  (R.V,). 

Epaphroditus  is  one  of  the  less  known  of  Paul's 
friends.  All  our  information  about  him  is  contained 
in  this  context,  and  in  a  brief  reference  in  Chapter  iv. 
His  was  a  singular  fate — to  cross  Paul's  path,  and  for 
one  short  period  of  his  life  to  be  known  to  all  the 
world,  and  for  all  the  rest  before  and  after  to  be 
utterly  unknown.    The  ship  sails  across  the  track  of 

u 


806  PHILIPPIANS  [oh.ii. 

the  moonlight,  and  then  vanishes  ghost-like  into 
darkness.  Of  all  the  inhabitants  of  Philippi  at  that 
time  we  know  the  names  of  but  three,  Euodias, 
Syntiche,  and  Epaphroditus,  and  we  owe  them  all  to 
Paul.  The  context  gives  us  an  interesting  miniature 
of  the  last,  and  pathetic  glimpses  into  the  private  life 
of  the  Apostle  in  his  imprisonment,  and  it  is  worth  our 
while  to  try  to  bring  our  historic  imagination  to  bear 
on  Epaphroditus,  and  to  make  him  a  living  man. 

The  first  fact  about  him  is,  that  he  was  one  of  the 
Philippian  Christians,  and  sent  by  them  to  Rome, 
with  some  pecuniary  or  material  help,  such  as  com- 
forts for  Paul's  prison-house,  food,  clothing,  or  money. 
There  was  no  reliable  way  of  getting  these  to  Paul 
but  to  take  them,  and  so  Epaphroditus  faced  the  long 
journey  across  Greece  to  Brindisi  and  Rome,  and  when 
arrived  there  threw  himself  with  ardour  into  serving 
Paul.  The  Apostle's  heartfelt  eulogium  upon  him 
shows  two  phases  of  his  work.  He  was  in  the  first 
place  Paul's  helper  in  the  Gospel,  and  his  faithfulness 
there  is  set  forth  in  a  glowing  climax,  'My  brother 
and  fellow-worker  and  fellow-soldier.'  He  was  in  the 
second  place  the  minister  to  Paul's  needs.  There  would 
be  many  ways  of  serving  the  captive,  looking  after  his 
comfort,  doing  his  errands,  procuring  daily  necessaries, 
managing  affairs,  perhaps  writing  his  letters,  easing 
his  chain,  chafing  his  aching  wrists,  and  ministering  in 
a  thousand  ways  which  we  cannot  and  need  not 
specify.  At  all  events  he  gladly  undertook  even 
servile  work  for  love  of  Paul. 

He  had  an  illness  which  was  probably  the  conse- 
quence of  his  toil.  Perhaps  over-exertion  in  travel,  or 
perhaps  his  Macedonian  constitution  could  not  bear 
the  enervating  air  of  Rome,  or  perhaps  Paul's  prison 


vs.  26-30]  PAUL  AND  EPAPHRODITUS    307 

was  unhealthy.  At  any  rate  he  worked  till  he  made 
himself  ill.  The  news  reached  Philippi  in  some  round- 
about way,  and,  as  it  appears,  the  news  of  his  illness 
only,  not  of  his  recovery.  The  difficulty  of  communi- 
cation would  sufficiently  account  for  the  partial 
intelligence.  Then  the  report  found  its  way  back  to 
Rome,  and  Epaphroditus  got  home-sick  and  was  rest- 
less, uneasy,  'sore  troubled,'  as  the  Apostle  says, 
because  they  had  heard  he  had  been  sick.  In  his  low, 
nervous  state,  barely  convalescent,  the  thought  of 
home  and  of  his  brethren's  anxiety  about  him  was  too 
much  for  him.  It  is  a  pathetic  little  picture  of  the 
Macedonian  stranger  in  the  great  city — pallid  looks, 
recent  illness,  and  pining  for  home  and  a  breath  of 
pure  mountain  air,  and  for  the  friends  he  had  left.  So 
Paul  with  rare  abnegation  sent  him  away  at  once, 
though  Timothy  was  to  follow  shortly,  and  accom- 
panied him  with  this  outpouring  of  love  and  praise  in 
his  long  homeward  journey.  Let  us  hope  he  got  safe 
back  to  his  friends,  and  as  Paul  bade  them,  they 
received  him  in  the  Lord  with  all  joy,  the  echoes  of 
which  we  almost  hear  as  he  passes  out  of  our 
knowledge. 

In  the  remainder  of  this  sermon  we  shall  simply  deal 
with  the  two  figures  which  the  text  sets  before  us, 
and  we  may  look  first  at  the  glimpses  of  Paul's  charac- 
ter which  we  get  here. 

We  may  note  the  generous  heartiness  of  his  praise 
in  his  associating  Epaphroditus  with  himself  as  on  full 
terms  of  equality,  as  worker  and  soldier,  and  the  warm 
generosity  of  the  recognition  of  all  that  he  had  done 
for  the  Apostle's  comfort.  Paul's  first  burst  of  grati- 
tude and  praise  does  not  exhaust  all  that  he  has  to  say 
about  Epaphroditus.    He  comes  back  to  the  theme  in 


808  PHILIPPIANS  [ch.  ii. 

the  last  words  of  the  context,  where  he  says  that  the 
Philippian  messenger  had  '  hazarded '  his  life,  or,  as  we 
might  put  it  with  equal  accuracy  and  more  force,  had 
•  gambled '  his  life,  or  '  staked  it  on  the  die '  for  Paul's 
sake.  No  wonder  that  men  were  eager  to  risk  their 
lives  for  a  leader  who  lavished  such  praise  and  such 
love  upon  them.  A  man  who  never  opens  his  lips 
but  to  censure  or  criticise,  who  fastens  on  faults  as 
wasps  do  on  blemished  fruit,  will  never  be  surrounded 
by  loyal  love.  Faithful  service  is  most  surely  bought 
by  hearty  praise.  A  caressing  hand  on  a  horse's  neck 
is  better  than  a  whip. 

We  may  further  note  the  intensity  of  Paul's  sym- 
pathy. He  speaks  of  Epaphroditus'  recovery  as  a 
mercy  to  himself  *lest  he  should  have  the  sorrow  of 
imprisonment  increased  by  the  sorrow  of  his  friend's 
death.'  That  attitude  of  mind  stands  in  striking  con- 
trast to  the  heroism  which  said,  '  To  me,  to  live  is  Christ 
and  to  die  is  gain,'  but  the  two  are  perfectly  con- 
sistent, and  it  was  a  great  soul  which  had  room  for 
them  both. 

We  must  not  leave  unnoticed  the  beautiful  self- 
abnegation  which  sends  off  Epaphroditus  as  soon  as 
he  was  well  enough  to  travel,  as  a  gift  of  the  Apostle's 
love,  in  order  to  repay  them  for  what  they  had  done 
for  him.  He  says  nothing  of  his  own  loss  or  of  how 
much  more  lonely  he  would  be  when  the  brother  whom 
he  had  praised  so  warmly  had  left  him  alone.  But  he 
suns  himself  in  the  thought  of  the  Pliilippians'  joy, 
and  in  the  hope  that  some  reflection  of  it  will  travel 
across  the  seas  to  him,  and  make  him,  if  not  wholly 
glad,  at  any  rate  '  the  less  sorrowful.' 

We  have  also  to  notice  Paul's  delicate  recognition  of 
all  friendly  help.    He  says  that  Epaphroditus  risked 


vs.  25-30]  PAUL  AND  EPAPHRODITUS     809 

his  life  to  *  supply  that  which  was  lacking  in  your 
service  toward  me.'  That  implies  that  all  which  the 
Philippians'  ministration  lacked  was  their  personal 
presence,  and  that  Epaphroditus,  in  supplying  that, 
made  his  work  in  a  real  sense  theirs.  All  the  loving 
thoughts,  and  all  the  material  expressions  of  them 
which  Epaphroditus  brought  to  Paul  were  fragrant 
with  the  perfume  of  the  Philippians'  love,  '  an  odour  of 
a  sweet  smell,  acceptable '  to  Paul  as  to  Paul's  Lord. 

We  briefly  note  some  general  lessons  which  may  be 
suggested  by  the  picture  of  Epaphroditus  as  he  stands 
by  the  side  of  Paul. 

The  first  one  suggested  is  the  very  familiar  one  of 
the  great  uniting  principle  which  a  common  faith  in 
Christ  brought  into  action.  Think  of  the  profound  clefts 
of  separation  between  the  Macedonian  and  the  Jew, 
the  antipathies  of  race,  the  differences  of  language, 
the  dissimilarities  of  manner,  and  then  think  of  what 
an  unheard  -  of  new  thing  it  must  have  been  that  a 
Macedonian  should  '  serve '  a  Jew !  We  but  feebly 
echo  Paul's  rapture  when  he  thought  that  there  was 
'neither  Barbarian  or  Scythian,  bond  or  free,  but  all 
were  one  in  Christ  Jesus,'  and  for  all  our  talk  about 
the  unity  of  humanity  and  the  like,  we  permit  the  old 
gulfs  of  separation  to  gape  as  deeply  as  ever.  Dread- 
noughts are  a  peculiar  expression  of  the  brother- 
hood of  men  after  nineteen  centuries  of  so-called 
Christianity. 

The  terms  in  which  the  work  of  Epaphroditus  is 
spoken  of  by  Paul  are  very  significant.  He  has  no 
hesitation  in  describing  the  work  done  for  himself  as 
'  the  w^ork  of  Christ,'  nor  in  using,  as  the  name  for  it, 
the  word  ('service'),  which  properly  refers  to  the 
service  rendered  by  priestly  hands.     Work  done  for 


310  PHILIPPIANS  [cH.li. 

Paul  was  done  for  Jesus,  and  that,  not  because  of  any 
special  apostolic  closeness  of  relation  of  Paul  to  Jesus, 
but  because,  like  all  other  Christians,  he  was  one  with 
bis  Lord.  '  The  cup  of  cold  water '  given  '  in  the  name 
of  a  disciple'  is  grateful  to  the  lips  of  the  Master.  We 
have  no  reason  to  suppose  that  Epaphroditus  took  part 
with  Paul  in  his  more  properly  apostolic  work,  and 
the  fact  that  the  purely  material  help,  and  pecuniary 
service  which  most  probably  comprised  all  his  'minis- 
tering,' is  honoured  by  Paul  with  these  lofty  designa- 
tions, carries  with  it  large  lessons  as  to  the  sanctity  of 
common  life.  All  deeds  done  from  the  same  motive 
are  the  same,  however  different  they  may  be  in  regard 
to  the  material  on  which  they  are  wrought.  If  our 
hearts  are  set  to  '  hallow  all  we  find,'  the  most  secular 
duties  will  be  acts  of  worship.  It  is  possible  for  us  in 
the  ordering  of  our  own  lives  to  fulfil  the  great 
prophecy  with  which  Zechariah  crowned  his  vision  of 
the  Future,  '  In  that  day  shall  there  be  on  the  bells  of 
the  horses  Holiness  unto  the  Lord ' ;  and  the  '  pots  in 
the  Lord's  house  shall  be  like  the  bowls  before  the 
altar.' 

May  we  not  further  draw  from  Paul's  words  her©  a 
lesson  as  to  the  honour  due  to  Christian  workers  ?  It 
was  his  brethren  who  were  exhorted  to  receive  their 
own  messenger  back  again  '  in  the  Lord  with  all  joy, 
and  to  hold  him  in  honour.'  Possibly  there  were  in 
Philippi  some  sharp  tongues  and  envious  spirits,  who 
needed  the  exhortation.  Whether  there  were  so  or  no, 
the  exhortation  itself  traces  lightly  but  surely  the 
lines  on  which  Christians  should  render,  and  their 
fellow-Christians  can  rightly  receive,  even  praise  from 
men.  If  Epaphroditus  were  'received  in  the  Lord,' 
there  would  be  no  foolish  and  hurtful  adulation  of 


vs.  25-30]        PREPARING  TO  END  811 

him,  nor  prostration  before  him,  but  he  would  be 
recognised  as  but  the  instrument  through  which  the 
true  Helper  worked,  and  not  he,  but  the  Grace  of 
Christ  in  him  would  finally  receive  the  praise.  There 
are  very  many  Christian  workers  who  never  get  their 
due  of  recognition  and  welcome  from  their  brethren, 
and  there  are  many  who  get  far  more  of  both  than 
belongs  to  them,  and  both  they  and  the  crowds  who 
bring  them  adulation  would  be  freed  from  dangers, 
which  can  scarcely  be  over-stated,  if  the  spirit  of  Paul's 
warm-hearted  praise  of  Epaphroditus  were  kept  in 
view. 

Epaphroditus  but  passes  across  the  illuminated  disc 
of  the  lantern  for  a  moment,  and  we  have  scarcely 
time  to  catch  a  glimpse  of  his  face  before  it  is  lost  to 
us.  He  and  all  his  brethren  are  gone,  but  his  name 
lives  for  ever,  and  Paul's  praise  of  him  and  of  his  work 
outshines  all  else  remembered  of  the  city,  where  con- 
querors once  reigned,  and  outside  whose  walls  was 
fought  a  battle  that  decided  for  a  time  the  fate  of  the 
world. 


PREPARING  TO  END 

'  Finally,  my  brethren,  rejoice  in  the  Lord.  To  write  the  same  things  to  you,  to 
me  indeed  is  not  irlssome,  but  for  you  it  is  safe.  2.  Beware  of  the  dogs,  beware 
of  the  evil  workers,  beware  of  the  concision  :  3.  For  we  are  the  circumcision, 
who  worship  by  the  Spirit  of  God,  and  glory  in  Christ  Jesus,  and  have  no  con- 
fidence in  the  flesh.'— Phil.  iii.  1-3  (R.V.). 

The  first  words  of  the  text  show  that  Paul  was  be- 
ginning to  think  of  winding  up  his  letter,  and  the 
preceding  context  also  suggests  that.  The  personal 
references  to  Timothy  and  Epaphroditus  would 
be  in  their  appropriate  place  near  the  close, 
and  the  exhortation  with  which  our  text  begins  is 


812  PHILIPPIANS  [CH.  iii. 

also  most  fitting  there,  for  it  is  really  the  key-note  of 
the  letter.  How  then  does  he  come  to  desert  his 
purpose?  The  answer  is  to  be  found  in  his  next 
advice,  the  warning  against  the  Judaising  teachers 
who  were  his  great  antagonists  all  his  life.  A  refer- 
ence to  them  always  roused  him,  and  here  the 
vehement  exhortation  to  mark  them  well  and  avoid 
them  opens  the  flood-gates.  Forgetting  all  about  his 
purpose  to  come  to  an  end,  he  pours  out  his  soul  in  the 
long  and  precious  passage  which  follows.  Not  till  the 
next  chapter  does  he  get  back  to  his  theme  in  the 
reiterated  exhortation  (iv.  4),  '  Rejoice  in  the  Lord 
alway  ;  again  I  will  say,  rejoice.'  This  outburst  is  very 
remarkable,  for  its  vehemence  is  so  unlike  the  tone  of 
the  rest  of  the  letter.  That  is  calm,  joyous,  bright,  but 
this  is  stormy  and  impassioned,  full  of  flashing  and 
scathing  words,  the  sudden  thunder-storm  breaks  in 
on  a  mellow,  autumn  day,  but  it  hurtles  past  and  the 
sun  shines  out  again,  and  the  air  is  clearer. 

Another  question  suggested  is  the  reference  of  the 
second  half  of  verse  1.  What  are  '  the  same  things ' 
to  write  which  is  'safe'  for  the  Philippians?  Are 
they  the  injunctions  preceding  to  'rejoice  in  the 
Lord,'  or  that  following,  the  warning  against  the 
Judaisers?  The  former  explanation  may  be  recom- 
mended by  the  fact  that  'Rejoice'  is  in  a  sense  the 
key-note  of  the  Epistle,  but  on  the  other  hand,  the 
things  where  repetition  would  be  '  safe '  would  most 
probably  be  warnings  against  some  evil  that 
threatened  the  Philippians'  Christian  standing. 

There  is  no  attempt  at  unity  in  the  words  before  us, 
and  I  shall  not  try  to  force  them  into  apparent  one- 
ness, but  follow  the  Apostle's  thoughts  as  they  lie. 
We  note — 


▼s.  1-3]  PREPARING  TO  END  818 

I.  The  crowning  injunction  as  to  the  duty  of  Chris- 
tian gladness. 

A  very  slight  glance  over  the  Epistle  will  show  how 
continually  the  note  of  gladness  is  struck  in  it.  What- 
ever in  Paul's  circumstances  was  '  at  enmity  with  joy ' 
could  not  darken  his  sunny  outlook.  This  bird  could 
sing  in  a  darkened  cage.  If  we  brought  together  the 
expressions  of  his  joy  in  this  letter,  they  would  yield 
us  some  precious  lessons  as  to  what  were  the  sources 
of  his,  and  what  may  be  the  sources  of  ours.  There 
runs  through  all  the  instances  in  the  Epistle  the 
implication  which  comes  out  most  emphatically  in  his 
earnest  exhortation,  '  Rejoice  in  the  Lord  always,  and 
again  I  say  rejoice.'  The  true  source  of  true  joy  lies 
in  our  union  with  Jesus.  To  be  in  Him  is  the  con- 
dition of  every  good,  and,  just  as  in  the  former  verses 
'trust  in  the  Lord'  is  set  forth,  so  the  joy  which  comes 
from  trust  is  traced  to  the  same  source.  The  joy  that 
is  worthy,  real,  permanent,  and  the  ally  of  lofty 
endeavour  and  noble  thoughts  has  its  root  in  union 
with  Jesus,  is  realised  in  communion  with  Him,  has 
Him  for  its  reason  or  motive,  and  Him  for  its  safe- 
guard or  measure.  As  the  passages  in  question  in  this 
Epistle  show,  such  joy  does  not  shut  out  but  hallows 
other  sources  of  satisfaction.  In  our  weakness 
creatural  love  and  kindness  but  too  often  draw  us 
away  from  our  joy  in  Him.  But  with  Paul  the 
sources  which  we  too  often  find  antagonistic  were 
harmoniously  blended,  and  flowed  side  by  side  in  the 
same  channel,  so  that  he  could  express  them  both  in 
the  one  utterance,  '  I  rejoiced  in  the  Lord  greatly  that 
now  at  the  last  your  care  of  me  hath  flourished 
again.' 

We  do  not  sufficiently  realise  the  Christian  duty  of 


314  PHILIPPIANS  [CH.  m. 

Christian  joy,  some  of  us  even  take  mortified  counten- 
ances and  voices  in  a  minor  key  as  marks  of  grace, 
and  there  is  but  little  in  any  of  us  of  '  the  joy  in  the 
Lord  '  which  a  saint  of  the  Old  Testament  had  learned 
was  our '  strength.'  There  is  plenty  of  gladness  amongst 
professing  Christians,  but  a  good  many  of  them  would 
resent  the  question,  is  your  gladness  *  in  the  Lord '  ? 
No  doubt  any  deep  experience  in  the  Christian  life 
makes  us  aware  of  much  in  ourselves  that  saddens, 
and  may  depress,  and  our  joy  in  Him  must  always  be 
shaded  by  penitent  sorrow  for  ourselves.  But  that 
necessary  element  of  sadness  in  the  Christian  life 
is  not  the  cause  why  so  many  Christian  lives  have 
little  of  the  buoyancy  and  hope  and  spontaneity 
which  should  mark  them.  The  reason  rather  lies  in 
the  lack  of  true  union  with  Christ,  and  habitual 
keeping  of  ourselves  '  in  the  love  of  God.' 

II.  Paul's  apology  for  reiteration. 

He  is  going  to  give  once  more  old  and  well-worn  pre- 
cepts which  are  often  very  tedious  to  the  hearer,  and 
not  much  less  so  to  the  speaker.  He  can  only  say  that 
to  him  the  repetition  of  familiar  injunctions  is  not 
•  irksome,'  and  that  to  them  it  is  '  safe.'  The  diseased 
craving  for  '  originality'  in  the  present  day  tempts  us 
all,  hearers  and  speakers  alike,  and  we  ever  need  to 
be  reminded  that  the  staple  of  Christian  teaching 
must  be  old  truths  reiterated,  and  that  it  is  not  time 
to  stop  proclaiming  them  until  all  men  have  begun 
to  practise  them.  But  a  speaker  must  try  to  make 
the  thousandth  repetition  of  a  truth  fresh  to  himself, 
and  not  a  wearisome  form,  or  a  dead  commonplace, 
by  freshening  it  to  his  own  mind  and  by  living  on  it 
in  his  own  practice,  and  the  hearers  must  remember 
that  it  is  only  the  completeness  of   their  obedience 


vs.  1-3]  PREPARING  TO  END  815 

that  antiquates  the  commandment.  The  most  thread- 
bare commonplace  becomes  a  novelty  when  occasions 
for  its  application  arise  in  our  own  lives,  just  as  a 
prescription  may  lie  long  unnoticed  in  a  drawer,  but 
when  a  fever  attacks  its  possessor  it  will  be  quickly 
drawn  out  and  worth  its  weight  in  gold. 

III.  Paul's  warning  against  teachers  of  a  ceremonial 
religion. 

It  scarcely  seems  congruous  with  the  tone  of  the 
rest  of  this  letter  that  the  preachers  whom  Paul  so 
scathingly  points  out  here  had  obtained  any  firm 
footing  in  the  Philippian  Church,  but  no  doubt  there, 
as  everywhere,  they  had  dogged  Paul's  footsteps,  and 
had  tried  as  they  always  did  to  mar  his  work.  They 
had  not  missionary  fervour  or  Christian  energy 
enough  to  initiate  efforts  amongst  the  Gentiles  so  as 
to  make  them  proselytes,  but  when  Paul  and  his  com- 
panions had  made  them  Christians,  they  did  their 
best,  or  their  worst,  to  insist  that  they  could  not  be 
truly  Christians,  unless  they  submitted  to  the  out- 
ward sign  of  being  Jews.  Paul  points  a  scathing 
finger  at  them  when  he  bids  the  Philippians  'beware,' 
and  he  permits  himself  a  bitter  retort  when  he  lays 
hold  of  the  Jewish  contemptuous  word  for  Gentiles 
which  stigmatised  them  as  '  dogs,'  that  is  profane  and 
unclean,  and  hurls  it  back  at  the  givers.  But  he  is 
not  indulging  in  mere  bitter  retorts  when  he  brings 
against  these  teachers  the  definite  charge  that  they 
are  •  evil  workers.'  People  who  believed  that  an  out- 
ward observance  was  the  condition  of  salvation  would 
naturally  be  less  careful  to  insist  upon  holy  living. 
A  religion  of  ceremonies  is  not  a  religion  of  morality. 
Then  the  Apostle  lets  himself  go  in  a  contemptuous 
play  of   words,  and   refuses   to   recognise  that  these 


316  PHILIPPIANS  [CH.  m. 

sticklers  for  circumcision  had  themselves  been  cir- 
cumcised. *!  will  not  call  them  the  circumcision, 
they  have  not  been  circumcised,  they  have  only  been 
gashed  and  mutilated,  it  has  been  a  mere  fleshly 
maiming.'  His  reason  for  denying  the  name  to  them 
is  his  profound  belief  that  it  belonged  to  true 
Christians.  His  contemptuous  reference  puts  in  a 
word,  the  principle  which  he  definitely  states  in 
another  place,  *  He  is  not  a  Jew  who  is  one  out- 
wardly ;  neither  is  that  circumcision  which  is  outward 
in  the  flesh.' 

The  Apostle  here  is  not  only  telling  us  who  are 
the  truly  circumcised,  but  at  the  same  time  he  is 
telling  us  what  makes  a  Christian,  and  he  states  three 
points  in  which,  as  I  take  it,  he  begins  at  the  end  and 
works  backwards  to  the  beginning.  'We  are  the 
circumcision  who  worship  in  the  Spirit  of  God ' — that 
is  the  final  result — '  and  glory  in  Christ  Jesus ' — '  and 
have  no  confidence  in  the  flesh' — that  is  the  starting- 
point.  The  beginning  of  all  true  Christianity  is  dis- 
trust of  self.  What  does  Paul  mean  by  'flesh'? 
Body  ?  Certainly  not.  Animal  nature,  or  the  passions 
rooted  in  it  ?  Not  only  these,  as  may  be  seen  by  noting 
the  catalogue  which  follows  of  the  things  in  the  flesh, 
in  which  he  might  have  trusted.  What  are  these? 
•Circumcised  the  eighth  day,  of  the  tribe  of  Israel, 
of  the  tribe  of  Benjamin,  a  Hebrew  of  the  Hebrews ' 
— these  belong  to  ritual  and  race ;  '  as  touching  the 
law  a  Pharisee '  —  that  belongs  to  ecclesiastical 
standing  ;  '  concerning  zeal  persecuting  the  church ' — 
that  has  nothing  to  do  with  the  animal  nature:  'touch- 
ing the  righteousness  which  is  in  the  law  blameless' 
— that  concerns  the  moral  nature.  All  these  come 
under   the  category  of   the   'flesh,'  which,  therefore, 


vs.  1-3]  PREPARING  TO  END  817 

plainly  includes  all  that  belongs  to  humanity  apart 
from  God.  Paul's  old-fashioned  language  translated 
into  modern  English  just  comes  to  this — it  is  vain  to 
trust  in  external  connection  with  the  sacred  com- 
munity of  the  Church,  or  in  participation  in  any  of  its 
ordinances  and  rites.  To  Paul,  Christian  rites  and 
Jewish  rites  were  equally  rites  and  equally  insufficient 
as  bases  of  confidence.  Do  not  let  us  fancy  that 
dependence  on  these  is  peculiar  to  certain  forms  of 
Christian  belief.  It  is  a  very  subtle  all  -  pervasive 
tendency,  and  there  is  no  need  to  lift  up  Noncon- 
formist hands  in  holy  horror  at  the  corruptions  of 
Romanism  and  the  like.  Their  origin  is  not  solely 
priestly  ambition,  but  also  the  desires  of  the  so-called 
laity.  Demand  creates  a  supply,  and  if  there  were 
not  people  to  think,  'Now  it  shall  be  well  with  me 
because  I  have  a  Levite  for  my  priest,'  there  would  be 
no  Levites  to  meet  their  wishes. 

Notice  that  Paul  includes  amongst  the  things  be- 
longing to  the  flesh  this  'touching  the  righteousness 
which  is  in  the  law  blameless.'  Many  of  us  can  say 
the  same.  We  do  our  duties  so  far  as  we  know  them, 
and  are  respectable  law-abiding  people,  but  if  we  are 
trusting  to  that,  we  are  of  the  '  flesh.'  Have  we  esti- 
mated what  God  is,  and  what  the  real  worth  of  our 
conduct  is  ?  Have  w^e  looked  not  at  our  actions  but  at 
our  motives,  and  seen  them  as  they  are  seen  from 
above  or  from  the  inside  ?  How  many  '  blameless ' 
lives  are  like  the  scenes  in  a  theatre,  effective  and 
picturesque,  when  seen  with  the  artificial  glory  of  the 
footlights  ?  But  go  behind  the  scenes  and  what  do  we 
find?  Dirty  canvas  and  cobwebs.  If  we  know  our- 
selves we  know  that  a  life  may  have  a  fair  outside, 
and  yet  not  be  a  thing  to  trust  to. 


318  PHILTPPIANS  [ch.  m. 

The  beginning  of  our  Christianity  is  the  conscious- 
ness that  we  are  '  naked  and  poor,  and  blind,  and  in 
need  of  all  things.'  Men  come  to  Jesus  Christ  by  many 
ways,  thank  God,  and  I  care  little  by  what  road  they 
come  so  long  as  they  get  there,  nor  do  I  insist  upon 
any  stereotyped  order  of  religious  experience.  But 
of  this  I  am  very  sure:  that  unless  we  abandon  con- 
fidence in  ourselves,  because  we  have  seen  ourselves  in 
the  light  of  God's  law,  we  have  not  learned  all  that 
we  need  nor  laid  hold  of  all  that  Christ  gives.  Let 
us  measure  ourselves  in  the  light  of  God,  and  we  shall 
learn  that  we  have  to  take  our  places  beside  Job, 
when  the  vision  of  God  silenced  his  protestations  of 
innocence.  *!  have  heard  of  Thee  by  the  hearing  of 
the  ear,  but  now  mine  eye  seeth  Thee;  wherefore  I 
abhor  myself  and  repent  in  dust  and  ashes.' 

That  self-distrust  should  pass  into  glorying  in  Christ 
Jesus.  If  a  man  has  learned  his  emptiness  he  will 
look  about  for  something  to  fill  it.  Unless  I  know 
myself  to  be  under  condemnation  because  of  my  sin, 
and  fevered,  disturbed,  and  made  wretched,  by 
its  inward  consequences  which  forbid  repose,  the 
sweetest  words  of  Gospel  invitation  will  pass  by  me 
like  wind  whistling  through  an  archway.  But  if  once 
I  have  been  driven  from  self-confidence,  then  like 
music  from  heaven  will  come  the  word,  'Trust  in 
Jesus.'  The  seed  dropped  into  the  ground  puts  out  a 
downward-going  shoot,  which  is  the  root,  and  an 
upward-growing  one,  which  is  the  stalk.  The  down- 
ward-going shoot  is  '  no  confidence  in  the  flesh,'  the 
upward-going  is  '  glorying  in  Christ  Jesua.' 

But  that  word  suggests  the  blessed  experience  of 
triumph  in  the  possession  of  the  Person  known  and 
felt  to   be   all,  and  to   give  all   that  life  needs.     A 


vs.  1-3]  PREPARING  TO  END  819 

true  Christian  should  ever  be  triumphant  in  a  felt 
experience,  in  a  Name  proved  to  be  sufficient,  in  a 
power  which  infuses  strength  into  his  weakness,  and 
enables  him  to  do  the  will  of  God.  It  is  for  want  of 
utter  self-distrust  and  absolute  faith  in  Christ  that 
'  glorying '  in  Him  is  so  far  beyond  the  ordinary  mood 
of  the  average  Christian.  You  say,  '  I  hope,  sometimes 
I  doubt,  sometimes  I  fear,  sometimes  I  tremblingly 
trust.'  Is  that  the  kind  of  experience  that  these 
words  shadow  ?  Why  do  we  continue  amidst  the  mist 
when  we  might  rise  into  the  clear  blue  above  the 
obscuring  pall?  Only  because  we  are  still  in  some 
measure  clinging  to  self,  and  still  in  some  measure 
distrusting  our  Lord.  If  our  faith  were  firm  and  full 
our  '  glorying '  would  be  constant.  Do  not  be  con- 
tented with  the  prevailing  sombre  type  of  Christian 
life  which  is  always  endeavouring,  and  always  foiled, 
which  is  often  doubting  and  often  indifferent,  but 
seek  to  live  in  the  sunshine,  and  expatiate  in  the 
light,  and  '  rejoice  in  the  Lord  always.' 

'Glorying*  not  only  describes  an  attitude  of  mind, 
but  an  activity  of  life.  Many  things  to-day  tempt 
Christian  people  to  speak  of  their  religion  and  of 
their  Lord  in  an  apologetic  tone,  in  the  face  of  strong 
and  educated  unbelief ;  but  if  we  have  within  us,  as  we 
all  may  have,  and  ought  to  have,  the  triumphant 
assurance  of  His  sufficiency,  nearness,  and  power,  it 
will  not  be  with  bated  breath  that  we  shall  speak  of 
our  Master,  or  apologise  for  our  Christianity,  but  we 
shall  obey  the  commandment,  *  Lift  up  thy  voice  with 
strength ;  lift  it  up,  be  not  afraid.'  Ring  out  the 
name  and  be  proud  that  you  can  ring  it  out,  as  the 
Name  of  your  Lord,  and  your  Saviour,  and  your  all- 
sufficient  Friend.      Whatever   other  people  say,  you 


820  PHILIPPIANS  [ch.  m. 

have  the  experience,  if  you  are  a  Christian,  which  more 
than  answers  all  that  they  can  say. 

We  have  said  that  the  final  result  set  forth  here 
by  Paul  is,  'We  worship  by  the  Spirit  of  God.'  The 
expression  translated  worship  is  the  technical  word  for 
rendering  priestly  service.  Just  as  Paul  has  asserted 
that  uncircumcised  Christians,  not  circumcised  Jews, 
are  the  true  circumcision,  so  he  asserts  that  they  are  the 
true  priests,  and  that  these  officials  in  the  outward 
temple  at  Jerusalem  have  forfeited  the  title,  and  that 
it  has  passed  over  to  the  despised  followers  of  the 
despised  Nazarene.  If  we  have  '  no  confidence  in 
the  flesh,'  and  are  '  glorying  in  Christ  Jesus,'  we  are 
all  priests  of  the  most  high  God.  '  Worship  in  the 
Spirit '  is  our  function  and  privilege.  The  externals 
of  ceremonial  worship  dwindle  into  insignificance. 
They  may  be  means  of  helping,  or  they  may  be  means 
of  hindering,  the  'worship  in  the  Spirit,'  which  I 
venture  to  think  all  experience  shows  is  the  more 
likely  to  be  pure  and  real,  the  less  it  invokes  the  aid  of 
flesh  and  sense.  To  make  the  senses  the  ladder  for 
the  soul  by  which  to  climb  to  God  is  quite  as  likely  to 
end  in  the  soul's  going  down  the  ladder  as  up  it. 
Aesthetic  aids  to  worship  are  crutches  which  keep  a 
lame  soul  lame  all  its  days. 

Such  worship  is  the  obligation  as  well  as  the  pre- 
rogative of  the  Christian.  We  have  no  right  to  say 
that  we  have  truly  forsaken  confidence  in  ourselves, 
and  are  truly  'glorying'  in  Christ  Jesus,  unless  our 
daily  life  is  communion  with  God,  and  all  your  work 
•  worshipping  by  the  Spirit  of  God.'  Such  communion 
and  worship  are  possible  for  those,  and  for  those  only, 
who  have  '  no  confidence  in  the  flesh '  and  who  '  glory- 
in  Christ  Jesus.* 


THE  LOSS  OF  ALL 

'Though  I  myself  might  have  confidence  even  in  the  flesh:  if  any  other  man 
thinketh  to  have  confidence  in  the  flesh,  I  yet  more  :  circumcised  the  eighth  day 
of  the  stock  of  Israel,  of  the  tribe  of  Benjamin,  a  Hebrew  of  Hebrews;  as  touching 
the  law,  a  Phai-isee ;  as  touching  zeal,  persecuting  the  church ;  as  touching  the 
righteousness  which  is  in  the  law,  found  blameless.  Howbeit  what  things  were 
gain  to  me,  these  have  I  counted  loss  for  Christ.  Yea  verily,  and  I  count  all 
things  to  be  loss  for  the  excellency  of  the  knowledge  of  Christ  Jesus  my  Lord :  for 
whom  I  suffered  the  loss  of  all  things,  and  do  count  them  but  dung.'— Phil. 
iii.  4-8  ( R.V.). 

We  have  already  noted  that  in  the  previous  verses  the 
Apostle  is  beginning  to  prepare  for  closing  his  letter, 
but  is  carried  away  into  the  long  digression  of  which 
our  text  forms  the  beginning.  The  last  words  of  the 
former  verse  open  a  thought  of  which  his  mind  is 
always  full.  It  is  as  when  an  excavator  strikes  his 
pickaxe  unwittingly  into  a  hidden  reservoir  and  the 
blow  is  followed  by  a  rush  of  water,  which  carries 
away  workmen  and  tools.  Paul  has  struck  into  the 
very  deepest  thoughts  which  he  has  of  the  Gospel  and 
out  they  pour.  That  one  antithesis,  '  the  loss  of  all,  the 
gain  of  Christ,'  carried  in  it  to  him  the  whole  truth  of 
the  Christian  message.  We  may  well  ask  ourselves 
what  are  the  subjects  which  lie  so  near  our  hearts, 
and  so  fill  our  thoughts,  that  a  chance  word  sets  us  off 
on  them,  and  we  cannot  help  talking  of  them  when 
once  we  begin. 

The  text  exemplifies  another  characteristic  of  Paul's, 
his  constant  habit  of  quoting  his  own  experience  as 
illustrating  the  truth.  His  theology  is  the  generalisa- 
tion of  his  own  experience,  and  yet  that  continual 
autobiographical  reference  is  not  egotism,  for  the  light 
in  which  he  delights  to  present  himself  is  as  the 
recipient  of  the  great  grace  of  God  in  pardoning 
sinners.    It  is  a  result  of  the  complete  saturation  of 

X 


822  PHILIPPIANS  [ch.  in. 

himself  with  the  Gospel.  It  was  to  him  no  mere  body  of 
principles  or  thoughts,  it  was  the  very  food  and  life 
of  his  life.  And  so  this  characteristic  reveals  not  only 
his  natural  fervour  of  character,  but  the  profound  and 
penetrating  hold  which  the  Gospel  had  on  his  whole 
being. 

In  our  text  he  presents  his  own  experience  as  the 
type  to  which  ours  must  on  the  whole  be  conformed. 
He  had  gone  through  an  earthquake  which  had 
shattered  the  very  foundations  of  his  life.  He  had 
come  to  despise  all  that  he  had  counted  most  precious, 
and  to  clasp  as  the  only  true  treasures  all  that  he  had 
despised.  With  him  the  revolution  had  turned  his 
whole  life  upside  down.  Though  the  change  cannot  be 
so  subversive  and  violent  with  us,  the  forsaking  of 
self-confidence  must  be  as  real,  and  the  clinging  to 
Jesus  must  be  as  close,  if  our  Christianity  is  to  be 
fervid  and  dominant  in  our  lives. 

I.  The  treasures  that  were  discovered  to  be  worth- 
less. 

We  have  already  had  occasion  in  the  previous  sermon 
to  refer  to  Paul's  catalogue  of  '  things  that  were  gain ' 
to  him,  but  we  must  consider  it  a  little  more  closely 
here.  We  may  repeat  that  it  is  important  for  under- 
standing Paul's  point  of  view  to  note  that  by  'flesh' 
he  means  the  whole  self  considered  as  independent  of 
God.  The  antithesis  to  it  is  'spirit,'  that  is  humanity 
regenerated  and  vitalised  by  Divine  influence.  '  Flesh,* 
then,  is  humanity  not  so  vitalised.  That  is  to  say,  it  is 
'self,'  including  both  body  and  emotions,  affections, 
thoughts,  and  will. 

As  to  the  points  enumerated,  they  are  those  which 
made  the  ideal  to  a  Jew,  including  purity  of  race, 
punctilious   orthodoxy,  flaming  zeal,   pugnacious  an- 


Ts.4-8]  THE  LOSS  OF  ALL  823 

tagonism,  and  blameless  morality.  With  reference 
to  race,  the  Jewish  pride  was  in  '  circumcision  on  the 
eighth  day,'  which  was  the  exclusive  privilege  of  one 
of  pure  blood.  Proselytes  might  be  circumcised  in 
later  life,  but  one  of  the  'stock  of  Israel'  only  on 
the  'eighth  day.'  Saul  of  Tarsus  had  in  earlier 
days  been  proud  of  his  tribal  genealogy,  which  had 
apparently  been  carefully  preserved  in  the  Gentile 
home,  and  had  shared  ancestral  pride  in  belonging  to 
the  once  royal  tribe,  and  perhaps  in  thinking  that  the 
blood  of  the  king  after  whom  he  was  named  flowed  in 
his  veins.  He  was  a  '  Hebrew  of  the  Hebrews,'  which 
does  not  mean,  as  it  is  usually  taken  to  do,  intensely, 
superlatively  Hebrew,  but  simply  is  equivalent  to  '  my- 
self a  Hebrew,  and  come  from  pure  Hebrew  ancestors 
on  both  sides.'  Possibly  also  the  phrase  may  have 
reference  to  purity  of  language  and  customs  as  well 
as  blood.  These  four  items  make  the  first  group. 
Paul  still  remembers  the  time  when,  in  the  blindness 
which  he  shared  with  his  race,  he  believed  that  these 
wholly  irrelevant  points  had  to  do  with  a  man's 
acceptance  before  God.  He  had  once  agreed  with 
the  Judaisers  that  'circumcision'  admitted  Gentiles 
into  the  Jewish  community,  and  so  gave  them  a  right 
to  participate  in  the  blessings  of  the  Covenant. 

Then  follow  the  items  of  his  more  properly  religious 
character,  which  seem  in  their  three  clauses  to  make  a 
climax.  'As  touching  the  law  a  Pharisee,'  he  was  of 
the  '  straitest  sect,'  the  champions  and  representatives 
of  the  law.  *  As  touching  zeal  persecuting  the  Church,' 
it  was  not  only  in  Judaism  that  the  mark  of  zeal  for 
a  cause  has  been  harassing  its  opponents.  We  can 
almost  hear  a  tone  of  sad  irony  as  Paul  recalls  that 
past,  remembering  how  eagerly  he  had  taken  charge 


324  PHILirPIANS  [ch.  hi. 

of  the  clothes  trusted  to  his  care  by  the  witnesses  who 
stoned  Stephen,  and  how  he  had  '  breathed  threatening 
and  slaughter'  against  the  disciples.  'As  touching  the 
righteousness  which  is  in  the  law  found  blameless,'  he 
is  evidently  speaking  of  the  obedience  of  outward 
actions  and  of  blaraelessness  in  the  judgment  of  men. 

So  we  get  a  living  picture  of  Paul  and  of  his  con- 
fidence before  he  was  a  Christian.  All  these  grounds 
for  pride  and  self-satisfaction  were  like  triple  armour 
round  the  heart  of  the  young  Pharisee,  who  rode  out 
of  Jerusalem  on  the  road  to  Damascus.  How  little  he 
thought  that  they  would  all  have  been  pierced  and 
have  dropped  from  him  before  he  got  there !  The 
grounds  of  his  confidence  are  antiquated  in  form,  but 
in  substance  are  modern.  At  bottom  the  things  in 
which  Paul's  'flesh'  trusted  are  exactly  the  same  as 
those  in  which  many  of  us  trust.  Even  his  pride  of 
race  continues  to  influence  some  of  us.  We  have  got 
the  length  of  separating  between  our  nationality  and 
our  acceptance  with  God,  but  we  have  still  a  kind  of 
feeling  that  'God's  Englishmen,'  as  Milton  called  them, 
have  a  place  of  their  own,  which  is,  if  not  a  ground  of 
confidence  before  God,  at  any  rate  a  ground  for  carry- 
ing ourselves  with  very  considerable  complacency 
before  men.  It  is  not  unheard  of  that  people  should 
rely,  if  not  on  '  circumcision  on  the  eighth  day,'  on 
an  outward  rite  which  seems  to  connect  them  with  a 
visible  Church.  Strict  orthodoxy  takes  the  place 
among  us  which  Pharisaism  held  in  Paul's  mind  before 
he  was  a  Christian,  and  it  is  easier  to  prove  our  zeal 
by  pugnacity  against  heretics,  than  by  fervour  of 
devotion.  The  modern  analogue  of  Paul's,  'touching 
the  righteousness  which  is  in  the  law  blameless,'  is  '  I 
have  done  my  best,  I  have  lived  a  decent  life.    My 


▼s.  4-8]  THE  LOSS  OF  ALL  825 

religion  is  to  do  good  to  other  people.'  All  such  talk, 
which  used  to  be  a  vague  sentiment  or  excuse,  is  now 
put  forward  in  definite  theoretical  substitution  for 
the  Christian  Truth,  and  finds  numerous  teachers  and 
acceptors.  But  how  short  a  way  all  such  grounds  of 
confidence  go  to  satisfy  a  soul  that  has  once  seen  the 
vision  that  blazed  in  on  Paul's  mind  on  the  road  to 
Damascus ! 

II.  The  discovery  of  their  worthlessness. 

'These  have  I  counted  loss  for  Christ.'  There  is  a 
possibility  of  exaggeration  in  interpreting  Paul's 
words.  The  things  that  were  'gain'  to  him  were  in 
themselves  better  than  their  opposites.  It  is  better  to 
to  be  '  blameless '  than  to  have  a  life  all  stained  with 
foulness  and  reeking  with  sins.  But  these  'gains' 
were  '  losses,'  disadvantages,  in  so  far  as  they  led  him 
to  build  upon  them,  and  trust  in  them  as  solid  wealth. 
The  earthquake  that  shattered  his  life  had  two  shocks : 
the  first  turned  upside  down  his  estimate  of  the  value 
of  his  gains,  the  second  robbed  him  of  them.  He  first 
saw  them  to  be  worthless,  and  then,  so  far  as  others' 
judgment  went,  he  was  stripped  of  them.  Actively  he 
'counted  them  loss,'  passively  he  'suffered  the  loss  of 
all  things.'  His  estimate  came,  and  was  followed  by 
the  practical  outcome  of  his  brethren's  excommuni- 
cation. 

What  changed  his  estimate  ?  In  our  text  he  answers 
the  question  in  two  forms:  first  he  gives  the  simple, 
all-sufficient  monosyllabic  reason  for  his  whole  life 
— 'for  Christ,'  and  then  he  enlarges  that  motive  into 
'  the  excellency  of  the  knowledge  of  Christ  Jesus  my 
Lord.'  The  former  carries  us  back  straight  to  the 
vision  which  revolutionised  Paul's  life,  and  made  him 
abjure  all  which  he  had  trusted,  and  adore  what  he 


826  PHILIPPIANS  [ch.  m. 

had  abhorred.  The  latter  dwells  a  little  more  upon 
the  subjective  process  which  followed  on  the  vision, 
but  the  two  are  substantially  the  same,  and  we  need 
only  note  the  solemn  fulness  of  the  name  of  'Jesus 
Christ,*  and  the  intense  motion  of  submission  and  of 
personal  appropriation  contained  in  the  designation, 
my  Lord.'  It  was  not  when  he  found  his  way  blinded 
into  Damascus  that  he  had  learned  that  knowledge, 
or  could  apprehend  its  'excellency.'  The  words  are 
enriched  and  enlarged  by  later  experiences.  The 
sacrifice  of  his  earlier  'gains'  had  been  made  before 
the  'excellency  of  the  knowledge'  had  been  discerned. 
It  w^as  no  mere  intellectual  perception  which  could  be 
imparted  in  words,  or  by  eyesight,  but  here  as  always 
Paul  by  'knowledge'  means  experience  which  comes 
from  possession  and  acquaintance,  and  which  there- 
fore gleams  ever  before  us  as  we  move,  and  is  capable  of 
endless  increase,  in  the  measure  in  which  we  are  true 
to  the  estimate  of  'gains'  and  'losses'  to  which  our 
initial  vision  of  Him  has  led  us.  At  first  we  may  not 
know  that  that  knowledge  excels  all  others,  but  as  we 
grow  in  acquaintance  with  Jesus,  and  in  experience  of 
Him,  we  shall  be  sure  that  it  transcends  all  others, 
because  He  does  and  we  possess  Him. 

The  revolutionising  motive  may  be  conceived  of  in 
two  ways.  We  have  to  abandon  the  lower  '  gains '  in 
order  to  gain  Christ,  or  to  abandon  these  because  we 
have  gained  Him.  Both  are  true.  The  discernment 
of  Christ  as  the  one  ground  of  confidence  is  ever 
followed  by  the  casting  away  of  all  others.  Self-dis- 
trust is  a  part  of  faith.  When  we  feel  our  feet  upon 
the  rock,  the  crumbling  sands  on  which  we  stood  are 
left  to  be  broken  up  by  the  sea.  They  who  have  seen 
the  Apollo  Belvedere  will  set  little  store  by  plaster 


V8.4-8]  THE  LOSS  OF  ALL  827 

of  Paris  casts.  In  all  our  lives  there  come  times 
when  the  glimpse  of  some  loftier  ideal  shows  up  our 
ordinary  as  hollow  and  poor  and  low.  And  when 
once  Christ  is  seen,  as  Scripture  shows  Him,  our  former 
self  appears  poor  and  crumbles  away. 

We  are  not  to  suppose  that  the  act  of  renunciation 
must  be  completed  before  a  second  act  of  possession 
is  begun.  That  is  the  error  of  many  ascetic  books. 
The  two  go  together,  and  abandonment  in  order  to 
win  merges  into  abandonment  because  we  have  won. 
The  strongest  power  to  make  renunciation  possible  is 
'the  expulsive  power  of  a  new  affection.'  When  the 
heart  is  filled  with  love  to  Christ  there  is  no  sense  of 
'loss,'  but  only  of  'exceeding  gain,'  in  casting  away  all 
things  for  Him. 

III.  The  continuous  repetition  of  the  discovery. 

Paul  compares  his  present  self  with  his  former 
Christian  self,  and  with  a  vehement  '  Yea,  verily,* 
affirms  his  former  judgment,  and  reiterates  it  in  still 
more  emphatic  terms.  It  is  often  easy  to  depreciate 
the  treasures  which  we  possess.  They  sometimes  grow 
in  value  as  they  slip  from  our  hands.  It  is  not  usual 
for  a  man  who  has  '  suffered  the  loss  of  all  things '  to 
follow  their  disappearance  by  counting  them  '  but 
dung.'  The  constant  repetition  through  the  whole 
Christian  course  of  the  depreciatory  estimate  of 
grounds  of  confidence  is  plainly  necessary.  There  are 
subtle  temptations  to  the  opposite  course.  It  is  hard 
to  keep  perfectly  clear  of  all  building  on  our  own 
blamelessness  or  on  our  connection  with  the  Christian 
Church,  and  we  have  need  ever  to  renew  the  estimate 
which  was  once  so  epoch-making,  and  which  'cast 
down  all  our  imaginations  and  high  things.'  If  we  do 
not  carefully  watch  ourselves,  the  whispering  tempter 


328  PHILIPPIANS  [oh.iii. 

that  was  silenced  will  recover  his  breath  again,  and  be 
once  more  ready  to  drop  into  our  ears  his  poisonous 
suggestions.  We  have  to  take  pains  and  '  give  earnest 
heed '  to  the  initial,  revolutionary  estimate,  and  to  see 
that  it  is  worked  out  habitually  in  our  daily  lives.  It 
is  a  good  exchange  when  we  count  'all  but  loss  for 
the  excellency  of  the  knowledge  of  Christ  Jesus  our 
Lord.' 


THE  GAIN  aF  CHRIST 

'That  I  may  gain  Christ,  and  be  found  in  Him,  not  having  a  righteonsness  of  my 
own,  even  that  which  is  of  the  law,  but  that  which  is  through  faith  in  Christ,  the 
righteousness  which  is  of  God  by  faith.'— Phil.  iii.  8,  9  (R.V.). 

It  is  not  everybody  who  can  say  what  is  his  aim  in  life. 
Many  of  us  have  never  thought  enough  about  it  to 
have  one  beyond  keeping  alive.  We  lose  life  in  seeking 
for  the  means  of  living.  Many  of  us  have  such  a  multi- 
tude of  aims,  each  in  its  turn  draw^ing  us,  that  no  one 
of  them  is  predominant  and  rules  the  crowd.  There  is 
no  strong  hand  at  the  tiller,  and  so  the  ship  washes 
about  in  the  trough  of  the  waves. 

It  is  not  everybody  who  dares  to  say  what  is  his  aim 
in  life.  We  are  ashamed  to  acknowledge  even  to  our- 
selves what  we  are  not  at  all  ashamed  to  do.  Paul 
knew  his  aim,  and  was  not  afraid  to  speak  it.  It  was 
high  and  noble,  and  was  passionately  and  persistently 
pursued.  He  tells  us  it  here,  and  we  can  see  his  soul 
kindling  as  he  speaks.  We  may  note  how  there  is  here 
the  same  double  reference  as  we  found  in  the  previous 
verses,  gaining  Christ  corresponding  to  the  previous 
loss  for  Christ,  and  the  later  words  of  our  text  being 
an  expansion  of  the  'excellency  of  the  knowledge  of 
Christ  Jesus.'    No  man  will  ever  succeed  in  any  life's 


vs.  8, 9]        THE  GAIN  OF  CHRIST  829 

purpose,  unless  like  Paul  lie  is  enthusiastic  about  it. 
If  his  aim  does  not  rouse  his  fervour  when  he  speaks 
of  it,  he  will  never  accomplish  it.  We  may  just  remark 
that  Paul  does  not  suppose  his  aim  to  be  wholly  un- 
attained,  even  although  he  does  not  count  himself  to 
'have  apprehended.'  He  knows  that  he  has  gained 
Christ,  and  is  '  found  in  Him,'  but  he  knows  also  that 
there  stretch  before  him  the  possibilities  of  infinite 
increase. 

I.  His  life's  aim  was  to  have  the  closest  possession  of, 
and  incorporation  in,  Christ. 

His  two  expressions, '  that  I  may  gain  Christ  and  be 
found  in  Him,'  are  substantially  identical  in  meaning, 
though  they  put  the  same  truth  from  different  sides, 
and  with  some  variety  of  metaphor.  We  may  deal 
with  them  separately. 

The  '  gain '  is  of  course  the  opposite  of  the  '  loss.'  His 
balance-sheet  has  on  one  side  '  all  things  lost,'  on  the 
other  '  Christ  gained,'  and  that  is  profitable  trading. 
But  we  have  to  go  deeper  than  such  a  metaphor,  and 
to  give  full  scope  to  the  Scriptural  truth,  that  Christ 
really  imparts  Himself  to  the  believing  soul.  There  is 
a  real  communication  of  His  own  life  to  us,  and  thereby 
we  live,  as  He  Himself  declared,  '  He  that  hath  the  Son 
hath  life.'  The  true  deep  sense  in  which  we  possess 
Christ  is  not  to  be  weakened  down,  as  it,  alas  !  so  often 
is  in  our  shallow  Christianity,  which  is  but  the  echo  of 
a  shallow  experience,  and  a  feeble  hold  of  that  posses- 
sion of  the  Son  to  which  Jesus  called  us,  as  the  condi- 
tion of  our  possession  of  life.  Christ  is  thus  Himself 
possessed  by  all  our  faculties,  each  after  its  kind ;  head 
and  heart,  passions  and  desires,  hopes  and  longings, 
may  each  have  Him  abiding  in  them,  guiding  them 
with  His  strong  and  gentle  hand,  animating  them  into 


330  PHILIPPIANS  [CH.  iii. 

nobler  life,  restraining  and  controlling,  gradually  trans- 
forming and  ultimately  conforming  them  to  His  own 
likeness.  Till  that  Divine  Indweller  enters  in,  the 
shrine  is  empty,  and  unclean  things  lurk  in  its  hidden 
corners.  To  be  a  man  full  summed  in  all  his  powers> 
each  of  us  must '  gain  Christ.' 

The  other  expression  in  the  text,  '  be  found  in  Him,' 
presents  the  same  truth  from  the  completing  point  of 
view.  We  gain  Christ  in  us  when  we  are  '  found  in  Him.' 
We  are  to  be  incorporated  as  members  are  in  the  body, 
or  imbedded  as  a  stone  in  the  foundation,  or  to  go 
back  to  the  sweetest  words,  which  are  the  source  of  all 
these  representations,  included  as  'a  branch  in  the 
vine.'  We  are  to  be  in  Him  for  safety  and  shelter,  as 
fugitives  take  refuge  in  a  strong  tower  when  an  enemy 
swarms  over  the  land. 

•  And  lo  I  from  sin  and  grief  and  shame, 
I  hide  me,  Jesus,  in  Thy  name.' 

We  are  to  be  in  Him  that  the  life  sap  may  freely  flow 
through  us.  We  are  to  be  in  Him  that  the  Divine 
Love  may  fall  on  us,  and  that  in  Jesus  we  may  receive 
our  portion  of  all  which  is  His  heritage. 

This  mutual  possession  and  indwelling  is  possible  if 
Jesus  be  the  Son  of  God,  but  the  language  is  absurd  in 
any  other  interpretation  of  His  person.  It  is  clearly  in 
its  very  nature  capable  of  indefinite  increase,  and  as 
containing  in  itself  the  supply  of  all  which  we  need  for 
life  and  blessedness,  is  fitted  to  be  what  nothing  else 
can  pretend  to  be,  without  wrecking  the  lives  that  are 
unwise  enough  to  pursue  it — the  sovereign  aim  of  a 
human  life.  In  following  it,  and  only  in  following  it, 
the  highest  wisdom  says  Amen  to  the  aspiration  of  the 
lowliest  faith.    *  This  one  thing  I  do.' 


▼s.  8, 9]        THE  GAIN  OF  CHRIST  881 

II.  Paul's  life's  aim  was  righteousness  to  be  received. 

He  goes  on  to  present  some  of  the  consequences 
which  follow  on  his  gaining  Christ  and  being  *  found  in 
Him,'  and  before  all  others  he  names  as  his  aim  the 
possession  of  •  righteousness.'  We  must  remember  that 
Paul  believed  that  righteousness  in  the  sense  of  'justi- 
fication '  had  been  his  from  the  moment  when  Ananias 
came  to  where  he  was  sitting  in  darkness,  and  bid  him 
be  baptized  and  wash  away  his  sins.  The  word  here 
must  be  taken  in  its  full  sense  of  moral  perfectness; 
even  if  we  included  only  this  in  our  thoughts  of  his 
life's  aim,  how  high  above  most  men  would  he  tower ! 
But  his  statement  carries  him  still  higher  above,  and 
farther  away  from,  the  common  ideas  of  moral  perfec- 
tion, and  what  he  means  by  righteousness  is  widely  sepa- 
rated from  the  world's  conception,  not  only  in  regard 
to  its  elements,  but  still  more  in  regard  to  its  source. 

It  is  possible  to  lose  oneself  in  a  dreamy  mysticism 
which  has  had  much  to  say  of  '  gaining  Christ  and  being 
found  in  Him,'  and  has  had  too  little  to  say  about 
'having  righteousness,'  and  so  has  turned  out  to  be  an 
ally  of  indifference  and  sometimes  of  unrighteousness. 
Buddhism  and  some  forms  of  mystical  Christianity 
have  fallen  into  a  pit  of  immorality  from  which  Paul's 
sane  combination  here  would  have  saved  them.  There 
is  no  danger  in  the  most  mystical  interpretation  of  the 
former  statement  of  his  aim,  when  it  is  as  closely 
connected  as  it  is  here  with  the  second  form  in  which 
he  states  it.  I  have  just  said  that  Paul  differed  from 
men  who  were  seeking  for  righteousness,  not  only 
because  his  conceptions  of  what  constituted  it  were  not 
the  same  as  theirs,  though  he  in  this  very  letter 
endorses  the  Greek  ideals  of  'virtue  and  praise,'  but 
also  and  more  emphatically  because  he  looked  for  it  ai 


332  PHILIPPIANS  [ch.  hi. 

a  gift,  and  not  as  the  result  of  his  own  ejfforts.  To  him 
the  only  righteousness  which  availed  was  one  which 
was  not  'my  own,'  but  had  its  source  in,  and  was 
imparted  by,  God.  The  world  thought  of  righteousness 
as  the  general  designation  under  which  were  summed 
up  a  man's  specific  acts  of  conformity  to  law,  the  sum 
total  reached  by  the  addition  of  many  specific  instances 
of  conformity  to  a  standard  of  duty.  Paul  had  learned 
to  think  of  it  as  preceding  and  producing  the  specific 
acts.  The  world  therefore  said,  and  says.  Do  the  deeds 
and  win  the  character ;  Paul  says,  Receive  the  character 
and  do  the  deeds.  The  result  of  the  one  conception  of 
righteousness  is  in  the  average  man  spasmodic  efforts 
after  isolated  achievements,  with  long  periods  between 
in  which  effort  subsides  into  torpor.  The  result  in 
Paul's  case  was  what  we  know :  a  continuous  effort  to 
keep  his  mind  and  heart  open  for  the  influx  of  the 
power  which,  entering  into  him,  would  make  him  able 
to  do  the  specific  acts  which  constitute  righteousness. 
The  one  road  is  a  weary  path,  hard  to  tread,  and,  as  a 
matter  of  fact,  not  often  trodden.  To  pile  up  a  righteous- 
ness by  the  accumulation  of  individual  rigliteous  acts 
is  an  endeavour  less  hopeful  than  that  of  the  coral 
polypes  slowly  building  up  their  reef  out  of  the  depths 
of  the  Pacific,  till  it  rises  above  the  waves.  He  who 
assumes  to  be  righteous  on  the  strength  of  a  succession 
of  righteous  acts,  not  only  needs  a  profounder  idea  of 
what  makes  his  acts  righteous,  but  should  also  make  a 
catalogue  of  his  unrighteous  ones  and  call  himself 
wicked.  The  other  course  is  the  final  deliverance  of  a 
man  from  dependence  upon  his  own  struggles,  and  sub- 
stitutes for  the  dreary  alternations  of  effort  and  torpor, 
and  for  the  imperfect  harvest  of  imperfectly  righteous 
acts,  the  attitude  of  receiving,  which  supersedes  painful 


fs.  8, 9]        THE  GAIN  OF  CHRIST  383 

strife  and  weary  endeavour.  To  seek  after  a  righteous- 
ness which  is  '  my  own,'  is  to  seek  what  we  shall  never 
find,  and  what,  if  found,  would  crumble  beneath  us. 
To  seek  the  righteousness  which  is  from  God,  is  to  seek 
what  He  is  waiting  to  bestow,  and  what  the  blessed 
receivers  blessedly  know  is  more  than  they  dreamed  of. 

But  Paul  looked  for  this  great  gift  as  a  gift  in  Christ. 
It  was  when  he  was  '  found  in  Him '  that  it  became  his, 
and  he  was  found  '  blameless.'  That  gift  of  an  imparted 
life,  which  has  a  bias  towards  all  goodness,  and  the 
natural  operation  of  which  is  to  incline  all  our  faculties 
towards  conformity  with  the  will  of  God,  is  bestowed 
when  we  '  win  Christ.'  Possessing  Him,  we  possess  it. 
It  is  not  only  '  imputed,'  as  our  fathers  delighted  to  say, 
but  it  is  '  imparted.'  And  because  it  is  the  gift  of  God 
in  Christ,  it  was  in  Paul's  view  received  by  faith.  He 
expresses  that  conviction  in  a  double  form  in  our  text. 
It  is  'through  faith '  as  the  channel  by  which  it  passes 
into  our  happy  hands.  It  is  'by  faith,'  or,  more 
accurately,  'upon  faith,'  as  the  foundation  on  which 
it  rests,  or  the  condition  on  which  it  depends.  Our 
trust  in  Christ  does  bring  His  life  to  us  to  sanctify  us, 
and  the  plain  English  of  all  this  blessed  teaching  is — 
if  we  wish  to  be  better  let  us  trust  Christ  and  get  Him 
into  the  depths  of  our  lives,  and  righteousness  will  be 
ours.  That  transforming  Presence  laid  up  in  'the  hidden 
man  of  the  heart,'  will  be  like  some  pungent  scent  in 
a  wardrobe  which  keeps  away  moths,  and  gives  out  a 
fragrance  that  perfumes  all  that  hangs  near  it. 

But  all  which  we  have  been  saying  is  not  to  be  under- 
stood as  if  there  was  no  effort  to  be  made,  in  order 
to  receive,  and  to  live  manifesting,  the  'righteous- 
ness which  is  of  God.'  There  must  be  the  constant 
abandonment  of  self,  and  the  constant  utilising  of  the 


334  PHILIPPI ANS  [oh.  in. 

grace  given.  The  righteousness  is  bestowed  whenever 
faith  is  exercised.  The  hand  is  never  stretched  out 
and  the  gift  not  lodged  in  it.  But  it  is  a  life's  aim  to 
possess  the  '  righteousness  which  is  of  God  by  faith,' 
because  that  gift  is  capable  of  indefinite  increase,  and 
will  reward  the  most  strenuous  efforts  of  a  believing 
soul  as  long  as  life  continues. 

III.  Paul's  life's  aim  stretches  beyond  this  life. 

Shall  we  be  chargeable  with  crowding  too  much 
meaning  into  his  words,  if  we  fix  on  his  remarkable 
expression,  '  be  found  in  Him,'  as  containing  a  clear 
reference  to  that  great  day  of  final  judgment?  We 
recall  other  instances  of  the  use  of  the  same  expression 
in  connections  which  unmistakably  point  to  that  time. 
Such  as  '  being  clothed  we  shall  not  be  found  naked,'  or 
•  the  proof  of  your  faith  .  .  .  might  be  found  unto 
praise  and  glory  and  honour  at  the  revelation  of  Jesus 
Christ,'  or  '  found  of  Him  in  peace  without  spot,  blame- 
less.' In  the  light  of  these  and  similar  passages,  it 
does  not  seem  unreasonable  to  suppose  that  this  'being 
found'  does  include  a  reference  to  the  Apostle's  place 
after  death,  though  it  is  not  confined  to  that.  He 
thinks  of  the  searching  eye  of  the  Judge  taking  keen 
account,  piercing  through  all  disguises,  and  wist- 
fully as  well  as  penetratingly  scrutinising  characters, 
till  it  finds  that  for  which  it  seeks.  They  who  are 
'  found  in  Him '  in  that  day,  are  there  and  thus  for 
ever.  There  is  no  further  fear  of  falling  out  of  union 
with  Him,  or  of  being,  by  either  gradual  and  uncon- 
scious stages,  or  by  sudden  and  overmastering  assaults, 
carried  out  of  the  sacred  enclosure  of  the  City  of 
Refuge,  in  which  they  dwell  henceforth  for  ever.  A 
dangerous  presumptuousness  has  sometimes  led  to  the 
over-confident  assertion,  '  Once    in   Christ  always  in 


vs.  8, 9]        THE  GAIN  OF  CHRIST  835 

Christ.'  But  Paul  teaches  us  that  that  security  of 
permanent  dwelling  in  Him  is  to  be  for  ever  in  this 
life  the  aim  of  our  efforts,  rather  than  an  accomplished 
fact.  So  long  as  we  are  here,  the  possibility  of  falling 
away  cannot  be  shut  out,  and  there  must  always  rise 
before  us  the  question,  Am  I  in  Christ  ?  Hence  there 
is  need  for  continual  watchfulness,  self-control,  and 
self-distrust,  and  the  life's  aim  has  to  be  perpetual,  not 
only  because  it  is  capable  of  indefinite  expansion,  but 
because  our  weakness  is  capable  of  deserting  it.  It  is 
only  when  at  the  last  we  are  found  by  Him,  in  Him, 
that  we  are  there  for  ever,  with  all  dangers  of  de- 
parture from  Him  at  an  end.  In  that  City  of  Refuge, 
and  there  only,  'the  gates  shall  not  be  shut  at  all,'  not 
solely  because  no  enemies  shall  attempt  to  come  in, 
but  also  because  no  citizens  shall  desire  to  go  out. 

We  should  ever  have  before  us  that  hour,  and  our 
life's  aim  should  ever  definitely  include  the  final 
scrutiny  in  which  many  a  hidden  thing  will  come  to 
light,  many  a  long-lost  thing  be  found,  and  each  man's 
ultimate  place  in  relation  to  Jesus  Christ  will  be  freed 
from  uncertainties,  ambiguities,  hypocrisies,  and  dis- 
guises, and  made  plain  to  all  beholders.  In  that  great 
day  of  '  finding,'  some  of  us  will  have  to  ask  with  sink- 
ing hearts,  *  Hast  thou  found  me,  O  mine  enemy  ? '  and 
others  will  break  forth  into  the  glad  acclaim,  '  I  have 
found  Him,'  or  rather  •  been  found  of  Him.' 

So  we  have  before  us  the  one  reasonable  aim  for  a 
man  to  have  Christ,  to  be  found  in  Him,  to  have  His 
righteousness.  It  is  reasonable,  it  is  great  enough  to 
absorb  all  our  energies,  and  to  reward  them.  It  will 
last  a  lifetime,  and  run  on  undisturbed  beyond  life. 
Following  it,  all  other  aims  will  fall  into  their  places, 
Is  this  my  aim  ? 


SAVING  KNOWLEDGE 

'  That  I  may  know  Him,  and  the  power  of  Hia  resurrection,  and  the  fellowship 
of  His  sufTerings,  becoming  conformed  unto  His  death ;  if  by  any  means  I  may 
attain  unto  the  resurrection  from  the  dead.'— Phil.  iii.  10-11  (R.V.). 

We  have  seen  how  the  Apostle  was  prepared  to  close 
his  letter  at  the  beginning  of  this  chapter,  and  how 
that  intention  w^as  sw^ept  away  by  the  rush  of  new 
thoughts.  His  fervid  faith  caught  fire  when  he  turned 
to  think  of  what  he  had  lost,  and  how  infinitely  more 
he  had  gained  in  Christ.  His  wealth  is  so  great  that 
it  cannot  be  crowded  into  the  narrow  space  of  one 
brief  sentence,  and  after  all  the  glowing  words  which 
precede  our  text,  he  feels  that  he  has  not  yet  ade- 
quately set  forth  either  his  present  possessions  or  his 
ultimate  aims.  So  here  he  continues  the  theme  which 
might  have  seemed  most  fully  dealt  with  in  the  great 
thoughts  that  occupied  us  in  the  former  sermon,  but 
which  still  wait  to  be  completed  here.  They  are  most 
closely  connected  with  the  former,  and  the  unity  of  the 
sentence  is  but  a  parallel  to  the  oneness  of  the  idea. 
The  elements  of  our  present  text  constitute  a  part  of 
the  Apostle's  aim  in  life,  and  may  be  dealt  with  as 
such. 

I.  Paul's  life's  aim  was  the  knowledge  of  Christ. 

That  sounds  an  anti-climax  after  '  Gain  '  and  '  Be  in 
Him.'  These  phrases  seem  to  express  a  much  more 
intimate  relation  than  this,  but  we  must  note  that  it 
is  no  mere  theoretical  or  intellectual  knowledge  which 
is  intended.  Such  knowledge  would  need  no  surrender 
or  suffering  '  the  loss  of  all  things.'  We  can  only  buy 
the  knowledge  of  Christ  at  such  a  rate,  but  we  can  buy 
knowledge    about    Him   very    much   cheaper.      Such 


T8. 10,11]      SAVING  KNOWLEDGE  837 

knowledge  would  not  be  worth  the  price ;  it  lies  on  the 
surface  of  the  soul,  and  does  nothing.  Many  a  man 
amongst  us  has  it,  and  it  is  of  no  use  to  him.  If  Paul 
had  undergone  all  that  he  had  undergone  and  sacri- 
ficed all  that  he  had  given  up,  and  for  his  reward  had 
only  gained  accurate  knowledge  about  Christ,  he  had 
certainly  wasted  his  life  and  made  a  bad  bargain. 
But  as  always,  so  here,  to  know  means  knowledge 
based  upon  experience.  Did  Christ  mean  that  a  correct 
creed  was  eternal  life  when  He  said,  'This  is  life 
eternal  to  know  Thee,  the  only  true  God  and  Jesus 
Christ  whom  Thou  has  sent  ? '  Did  Paul  mean  the  dry 
light  of  the  understanding  when  he  prayed  that  the 
Ephesians  might  know  the  love  of  Christ  which  passeth 
knowledge,  in  order  to  be  filled  with  all  the  fulness  of 
God  ?  Clearly  we  have  to  go  much  deeper  down  than 
that  superficial  interpretation  in  order  to  reach  the 
reality  of  the  New  Testament  conception  of  knowledge. 
It  is  co-extensive  with  life,  and  is  built  upon  inward 
experience.  In  a  word,  it  is  one  aspect  of  winning 
Jesus.  It  is  consciousness  contemplating  its  riches, 
counting  its  gains.  As  a  man  knows  the  bliss  of 
parental  or  wedded  love  only  by  having  it,  or  as  he 
knows  the  taste  of  wine  only  by  drinking  it,  or  the 
glory  of  music  only  by  hearing  it,  and  the  brightness 
of  the  day  only  by  seeing  it,  so  we  know  Christ  only  by 
winning  Him.  There  must  first  be  the  perception  and 
possession  by  sense  or  emotion,  and  then  the  reflection 
on  the  possession  by  understanding.  This  applies  to 
all  religious  truth.  It  must  be  possessed  ere  it  be 
fully  known.  Like  the  new  name  written  upon  the 
Apocalyptic  stone,  'No  one  knoweth  but  he  that 
receiveth  it.' 
The    knowledge    which  was   Paul's    life's  aim  was 

Y 


338  PHILIPPIANS  [oh.  hi. 

knowledge  of  a  Person :  the  object  determines  the 
nature  of  the  knowledge.  The  mental  act  of  knowing 
a  proposition  or  a  science  or  even  of  knowing  about  a 
person  by  hearing  of  him  is  different  from  that  of 
knowing  people  when  we  have  lived  beside  them.  We 
need  not  be  afraid  of  attaching  too  familiar  a  meaning 
to  this  word  of  our  text,  if  we  say  that  it  implies  per- 
sonal acquaintance  with  the  Christ  whom  we  know. 
Of  course  we  come  to  know  Him  in  the  first  instance 
through  the  medium  of  statements  about  Him,  and  we 
cannot  too  strongly  insist,  in  these  days  of  destructive 
criticism,  on  the  absolute  necessity  of  accepting  the 
Gospel  statements  as  to  the  life  of  Jesus  as  the  only 
possible  method  of  knowing  Him.  But  then,  beyond 
that  acceptance  of  the  record  must  come  the  applica- 
tion and  appropriation  of  it,  and  the  transmutation  of 
a  historical  fact  into  a  personal  experience.  We  may 
take  an  illustration  from  any  of  the  Scriptural  truths 
about  Jesus : — For  instance,  Scripture  declares  Him  to 
be  our  Redeemer.  One  man  believes  Him  to  be  so, 
welcomes  Him  into  his  life  as  such,  and  finds  Him  to 
be  such.  Another  man  believes  Him  to  be  so,  but  never 
puts  His  redeeming  power  to  the  proof.  Is  the  know- 
ledge of  these  two  rightly  called  by  the  same  name  ? 
That  which  comes  after  experience  is  surely  not 
rightly  designated  by  the  same  title  as  that  which  has 
no  viviflcation  nor  verification  of  such  a  sort  to  build 
on,  and  is  the  mere  product  of  the  understanding. 
There  is  nothing  which  the  great  mass  of  so-called 
Christians  need  more  than  to  have  forced  into  their 
thoughts  the  difference  between  these  two  kinds  of 
knowledge  of  Christ.  There  are  thousands  of  them 
who,  if  asked,  are  ready  to  profess  that  they  know 
Jesus,  but  to  whom  He  has  never  been  anything  more 


T8. 10, 11]      SAVING  KNOWLEDGE  839 

than  a  partially  understood  article  of  an  uncared  for 
creed,  and  has  never  been  in  living  contact  with  their 
needs,  nor  known  for  their  strength  in  weakness,  their 
comforter  in  sorrow,  '  their  life  in  death,'  their  all  in  all. 

To  deepen  that  experimental  knowledge  of  Jesus  is  a 
worthy  aim  for  the  whole  life,  and  is  a  process  that 
may  go  on  indefinitely  through  it  all.  To  know  Him 
more  and  more  is  to  have  more  of  heaven  in  us.  To  be 
penetrating  ever  deeper  into  His  fulness,  and  finding 
every  day  new  depths  to  penetrate  is  to  have  a  foun- 
tain of  freshness  in  our  dusty  days  that  will  never  fail 
or  run  dry.  There  is  only  one  inexhaustible  person, 
and  that  is  Jesus  Christ.  We  have  all  fulness  in  our 
Lord :  we  have  already  received  all  when  we  received 
Him.  Are  we  advancing  in  the  experience  that  is  the 
parent  of  knowing  Him  ?  Do  new  discoveries  meet  us 
every  day  as  if  we  were  explorers  in  a  virgin  land  ? 
To  have  this  for  our  aim  is  enough  for  satisfaction,  for 
blessedness,  and  for  growth.  To  know  Him  is  a  liberal 
education. 

II.  That  knowledge  involves  knowing  the  power  of 
His  Resurrection. 

The  power  of  His  Resurrection  is  an  expression  which 
covers  a  wide  ground.  There  are  several  distinct  and 
well-marked  powers  ascribed  to  it  in  Paul's  writings. 
It  has  a  demonstrative  force  in  reference  to  our  Lord's 
person  and  work.  For  He  is  by  it  '  declared  to  be  the 
Son  of  God  with  power.'  That  rising  again  from  the 
dead,  taken  in  conjunction  with  the  fact  that  He  dieth 
no  more,  but  is  ascended  up  on  high,  and  in  conjunction 
with  His  own  words  concerning  Himself  and  His 
Resurrection,  sets  Him  forth  before  the  world  as  the 
Son  of  God,  and  is  the  solemn  divine  approval  and 
acceptance  of  His  work. 


340  PHILIPPIANS  [ch.  in. 

It  has  a  revealing  power  in  regard  to  the  condition 
of  humanity  in  death.  It  is  the  one  fact  which 
establishes  immortality,  and  which  not  only  establishes 
it,  but  casts  some  light  on  the  manner  of  it.  The 
possibility  of  personal  life  after,  and  therefore,  in 
death,  the  unbroken  continuity  of  being,  the  possibility 
of  a  resurrection,  and  a  glorifying  of  this  corporeal 
frame,  with  all  the  far-reaching  consequences  of  these 
truths  in  the  triumph  they  give  over  death,  in  the  sup- 
port and  substance  they  afford  to  the  else-shadowy 
idea  of  immortality,  in  the  lofty  place  which  they  assign 
to  the  bodily  frame,  and  the  conception  which  they 
give  of  man's  perfection  as  consisting  of  body,  soul, 
and  spirit — these  thoughts  have  flashed  light  into  all 
the  darkness  of  the  grave,  have  narrowed  to  a  mere 
strip  of  coast-line  the  boundaries  of  the  kingdom  of 
death,  have  proclaimed  love  as  the  victor  in  her  con- 
test with  that  shrouded  horror.  The  basis  of  them  all 
is  Christ's  Resurrection  ;  its  power  in  this  respect  is  the 
power  to  illuminate,  to  console,  to  certify,  to  wrench 
the  sceptre  from  the  hands  of  death,  and  to  put  it  in 
the  pierced  hands  of  the  Living  One  that  was  dead, 
and  is  Lord  both  of  the  dead  and  the  living. 

Further,  the  Resurrection  is  treated  by  Paul  as  having 
a  power  for  our  justification,  in  so  far  as  the  risen  Lord 
bestows  upon  us  by  His  risen  life  the  blessings  of  His 
righteousness.  Paul  also  represents  the  Resurrection 
of  Christ  as  having  the  power  of  quickening  our 
Spiritual  life.  I  need  not  spend  time  in  quoting  the 
many  passages  where  His  rising  from  the  dead,  and 
His  life  after  the  Resurrection,  are  treated  as  the  type 
and  pattern  of  our  lives:  and  are  not  only  regarded 
as  pattern,  but  are  also  regarded  as  the  power  by 
which  that  new  life  of  ours  is  brought  about.    It  has 


?8.l0,il]      SAVING  KNOWLEDGE  841 

the  power  of  raising  us  from  the  death  of  sin,  and 
bringing  us  into  a  new  life  of  the  Spirit.  And  finally, 
the  Resurrection  of  Christ  is  regarded  as  having  the 
power  of  raising  His  servants  from  the  grave  to  the 
full  possession  of  His  own  glorious  life,  and  so  it  is  the 
power  of  our  final  victory  over  death. 

Now  I  do  not  know  that  we  are  entitled  to  exclude 
any  of  these  powers  from  view.  The  broad  words  of 
the  text  include  them  all,  but  perhaps  the  two  last  are 
mainly  meant,  and  of  these  chiefly  the  former. 

The  risen  life  of  Christ  quickens  and  raises  us,  and 
that  not  merely  as  a  pattern,  but  as  a  power.  It  is 
only  if  we  are  in  Him  that  there  is  so  real  a  unity  of 
life  between  Him  and  us  that  there  enters  into  us  some 
breath  of  His  own  life. 

That  risen  life  of  the  Saviour  which  we  share  if  we 
have  Him,  enters  into  our  nature  as  leaven  into  the 
three  measures  of  meal ;  transforming  and  quickening 
it,  gives  new  directions,  tastes,  motives,  impulses,  and 
power.  It  bids  and  inclines  us  to  seek  the  things  that 
are  above,  and  its  great  exhortation  to  the  hearts  in 
which  it  dwells,  to  fix  themselves  there,  and  to  forsake 
the  things  that  are  on  the  earth,  is  based  upon  the  fact 
that  they  have  died,  and  '  their  life  is  hid  with  Christ 
in  God.'  Without  that  leaven  the  life  that  we  live  is  a 
death,  because  it  is  lived  in  the  'lusts  of  the  flesh,' 
doing  the  desires  of  the  flesh  and  of  the  mind.  There 
is  no  real  union  with  Jesus  Christ,  of  which  the  direct 
issue  is  not  a  living  experience  of  the  power  of  His 
Resurrection  in  bringing  us  to  the  likeness  of  itself  in 
regard  to  our  freedom  from  the  bondage  to  siu,  and  to 
our  presenting  ourselves  unto  God  as  alive  from  the 
dead,  and  our  members  as  instruments  of  righteous- 
o©88  uftto  God.    It  is  a  solemn  thought  which  we  aU 


842  PHILIPPIANS  [oh.  hi. 

need  to  press  upon  our  consciences,  that  the  only  in- 
fallible sign  that  we  have  been  in  any  measure 
quickened  together  with  Christ  and  raised  up  with 
Him  is  that  we  have  ceased  to  live  in  the  lusts  of  our 
flesh,  doing  the  desires  of  the  flesh  and  of  the  mind. 
The  risen  life  of  Jesus  may  indefinitely  increase,  and 
will  do  so  in  the  measure  in  which  we  honestly  make 
it  our  life's  aim  to  know  Him  and  the  power  of  His 
Resurrection. 

III.  The  experience  of  the  power  of  Christ's  Resur- 
rection is  inseparable  from  the  fellowship  of  His 
sufferings. 

We  must  not  suppose  that  Paul's  solemn  and  awful 
words  here  trench  in  the  smallest  degree  on  the  soli- 
tary unapproachableness  of  Christ's  death.  He  would 
have  answered,  as  in  fact  he  does  answer,  the  appeal 
of  the  prophetic  sufferer,  '  Behold  and  see  if  there  be 
any  sorrow  like  unto  my  sorrow '  with  the  strongest 
negative.  No  other  human  lips  have  ever  tasted,  or 
can  ever  taste,  a  cup  of  such  bitterness  as  He  drained 
for  us  all,  and  no  other  human  lips  have  ever  been  so 
exquisitely  sensitive  to  the  bitterness  which  they  have 
drunk.  The  identification  of  Himself  with  a  sinful 
world,  the  depth  and  closeness  of  His  community  of 
feeling  with  all  sorrow,  the  consciousness  of  the  glory 
which  He  had  left,  and  the  perpetual  sense  of  the 
hostility  into  which  He  had  come,  set  Christ's  suffer- 
ings by  themselves  as  surely  as  the  effects  that  flow 
from,  them  declare  that  they  need  no  repetition,  and 
cannot  be  degraded  by  any  parallel  whilst  the  world 
lasts. 

But  yet  His  Death,  like  His  Resurrection,  is  set  forth 
in  Scripture  as  being  a  type  and  power  of  ours.  We 
have  to  die  to  the  world  by  the  power  of  the  Cross.    If 


vs.  10, 11]      SAVING  KNOWLEDGE  843 

we  truly  trust  in  His  sacrifice  there  will  operate  upon 
us  motives  which  separate  and  detach  us  from  our  old 
selves  and  the  old  world.  A  fundamental,  ethical,  and 
spiritual  change  is  effected  on  us  through  faith.  We 
were  dead  in  sin,  we  are  dead  to  sin.  We  have  to 
blend  the  two  thoughts  of  the  Christian  life  as  being  a 
daily  dying  and  a  continual  resurrection  in  order  to  get 
the  whole  truth  of  the  double  aspect  of  it. 

It  may  be  a  question  whether  the  Apostle  is  here  re- 
ferring to  outward  or  inward  and  ethical  sorrows,  but 
perhaps  we  should  not  do  justice  to  the  thought  unless 
we  extend  it  to  cover  both  of  these.  Certainly  if  his 
theology  was  but  the  generalising  of  his  experience,  he 
had  ample  material  in  his  daily  life  for  knowing  the 
fellowship  of  Christ's  sufferings.  One  of  his  most 
frequently  recurring  and  most  cherished  thoughts  is, 
that  to  suffer  for  Christ  is  to  suffer  with  Christ,  and 
in  it  he  found  and  teaches  us  to  find  strength  to 
endure,  and  patience  to  outlast  any  sorrows  that  may 
swoop  upon  us  like  birds  of  prey  because  we  are 
Christians.  Happy  shall  we  be  if  Christ's  sufferings 
are  ours,  because  it  is  our  union  with  Him  and  our 
likeness  to  Him,  not  to  ourselves,  our  sins,  or  our  world- 
liness,  that  is  their  occasion.  There  is  an  old  legend 
that  Peter  was  crucified  head  downwards,  because  he 
felt  himself  unworthy  to  be  as  his  Master.  We  may 
well  feel  that  nothing  which  we  can  ever  bear  for 
Him  is  worthy  to  be  compared  with  what  He  has 
borne  for  us,  and  be  the  more  overwhelmed  with  the 
greatness  of  the  condescension,  and  the  humility  of 
the  love  which  reckon  our  light  affliction,  which  is  but 
for  a  moment,  along  with  the  heavy  weight  which  He 
bore,  and  the  blessed  issue  of  which  outlasts  time  and 
enriches  eternity. 


844  PHILIPPIANS  [ch.  hi. 

But  there  is  another  sense  in  which  it  is  a  worthy 
aim  of  our  lives  that  our  sufferings  may  be  felt  to  be 
fellowship  with  His.  That  is  a  blessed  sorrow  which 
brings  us  closer  to  our  Lord.  That  is  a  wholesome 
sorrow  of  which  the  issue  is  an  intenser  faith  in  Him, 
a  fuller  experience  of  His  sufficiency.  The  storm  blows 
us  well  when  it  blows  us  to  His  breast,  and  sorrow 
enriches  us,  whatever  it  may  take  away,  which  gives  us 
fuller  and  more  assured  possession  of  Jesus. 

But  when  we  are  living  in  fellowship  with  Jesus,  that 
union  works  in  two  directions,  and  wbile  on  the  one 
hand  we  may  then  humbly  venture  to  feel  that  our 
sufferings  for  Him  are  sufferings  with  Him,  we  may 
thankfully  feel,  too,  that  in  all  our  affliction  He  is 
afflicted.  If  His  sufferings  are  ours  we  may  be  sure 
that  ours  are  His.  And  how  different  they  all  become 
when  we  are  certain  of  His  sympathy  !  It  is  possible 
that  we  may  have  a  kind  of  common  consciousness 
with  our  Lord,  if  our  whole  hearts  and  wills  are  kept 
in  close  touch  witb  Him,  so  that  in  our  experience  there 
may  be  a  repetition  in  a  higher  form  of  that  strange 
experience  alleged  to  be  familiar  in  hypnotism,  where 
the  bitter  in  one  mouth  is  tasted  in  another. 

So,  what  we  ought  to  make  our  aim  is  that  in  our 
lives  our  growing  knowledge  of  Christ  should  lead  to 
the  two  results,  so  inexorably  intertwined,  of  daily 
death  and  daily  resurrection,  and  that  we  may  be  kept 
faithful  to  Him  so  that  our  outward  sufferings  may  be 
caused  by  our  union  with  Him,  and  not  by  our  own 
faithlessness,  and  may  be  discerned  by  us  to  be  fellow- 
ship with  His.  Then  we  shall  also  feel  that  He  bears 
ours  with  us,  and  sorrow  itself  will  be  calmed  and 
beautified  into  a  silent  bliss,  as  the  chill  peaks  when  the 
morning  strikes  them  glow  with  tender  pink,  and  seem 


▼8,10,11]      SAVING  KNOWLEDGE  345 

soft  and  warm,  though  they  are  grim  rock  and  ice- 
cold  snow.  Then  some  faint  echo  of  His  history 
*who  was  acquainted  with  grief  may  be  audible  in  our 
outward  lives  and  we,  too,  may  have  our  Gethsemane 
and  our  Calvary.  It  may  not  be  presumption  in  us  to 
say  '  We  are  able  '  when  He  asks  'Can  ye  drink  of  the 
cup  that  I  drink  of '  ?  nor  terror  to  hear  Him  prophesy 
•  Ye  shall  indeed  drink  of  the  cup  that  I  drink  of,'  for 
we  shall  remember  '  joint-heirs  in  Christ,  if  so  be  that 
we  suffer  with  Him,  that  we  may  be  also  glorified 
together.' 

IV.  The  end  attained. 

The  Christian  life  as  here  manifested  is  even  in  its 
highest  forms  manifestly  incomplete.  It  is  a  reflected 
light,  and  like  the  reflected  light  in  the  heavens, 
advances  by  imperceptible  degrees  to  fill  the  whole 
silver  round.  It  may  be  *  e'en  in  its  imperfections 
beautiful,'  but  it  assuredly  has  'a  ragged  edge.'  The 
hypothetical  form  of  the  last  words  of  our  text  does 
not  so  much  imply  a  doubt  of  the  possibility  of  attain- 
ing the  result  as  the  recognition  of  the  indispensable 
condition  of  effort  on  the  part  of  him  who  attains  it. 
That  effort  forthcoming,  the  attainment  is  certain. 

The  Revised  Version  makes  a  slight  correction  which 
involves  a  great  matter,  in  reading  'the  resurrection 
from  the  dead.'  It  is  necessary  to  insist  on  this  change 
in  rendering,  not  because  it  implies  that  only  saints 
are  raised,  but  because  Paul  is  thinking  of  that  first 
resurrection  of  which  the  New  Testament  habitually 
speaks.  'The  dead  in  Christ  shall  rise  first'  as  he 
himself  declared  in  his  earliest  epistle,  and  the  seer  in 
the  Apocalypse  shed  a  benediction  on  *him  that  hath 
part  in  the  first  resurrection.'  Our  knowledge  of  that 
solemn  future  is  so  fragmentary  that  we  cannot  ven- 


346  PHILIPPIANS  [ch.  hi. 

ture  to  draw  dogmatic  inferences  from  the  little  that 
has  been  declared  to  us,  but  we  cannot  forget  the 
distinct  words  of  Jesus  in  which  He  not  only  plainly 
declares  a  universal  resurrection,  but  as  plainly  pro- 
claims that  it  falls  into  two  parts,  one  a  '  resurrection 
of  life,'  and  one  a  'resurrection  of  judgment.'  The 
former  may  well  be  the  final  aim  of  a  Christian  life : 
the  latter  is  a  fate  which  one  would  think  no  sane  man 
would  deliberately  provoke.  Each  carries  in  its  name 
its  dominant  characteristic,  the  one  full  of  attractive- 
ness, the  other  partially  unveiling  depths  of  shame 
and  punitive  retributions  which  might  appal  the 
stoutest  heart. 

This  resurrection  of  life  is  the  last  result  of  the 
power  of  Christ's  Resurrection  received  into  and  work- 
ing on  the  human  spirit.  It  is  plain  enough  that  if  the 
Spirit  of  Him  that  raised  up  Jesus  from  the  dead 
dwell  in  us  there  is  no  term  to  its  operations  until  our 
mortal  bodies  also  are  quickened  by  His  Spirit  that 
dwelleth  in  us.  The  ethical  and  spiritual  resurrection 
in  the  present  life  finds  its  completion  in  the  bodily 
resurrection  in  the  future.  It  cannot  be  that  the 
transformation  wrought  in  a  human  life  shall  be 
complete  until  it  has  flowed  outwards  into  and  per- 
meated the  whole  of  manhood,  body,  soul,  and  spirit. 
The  three  measures  of  meal  have  each  to  be  inflvienced 
before  '  the  whole  is  leavened.'  If  we  duly  consider 
the  elements  necessary  to  a  perfect  realisation  of  the 
divine  ideal  of  humanity,  we  shall  discern  that  re- 
demption must  have  a  gospel  to  bring  to  the  body  as 
well  as  to  the  spirit.  Whatever  has  been  devastated 
by  sin  must  be  healed  by  Jesus.  It  is  not  necessary  to 
suppose  that  the  body  which  dies  is  the  body  which 
rises  again,  rather  the  Apostle's  far-reaching  series  of 


V8. 10, 11]      SAVING  KNOWLEDGE  84.7 

antitheses  between  that  which  is  sown  and  that  which 
is  raised  leads  us  to  think  that  the  natural  body,  which 
has  passed  through  corruption,  and  the  particles  of 
which  have  been  gathered  into  many  different  combina- 
tions, does  not  become  the  spiritual  body.  The  person 
who  dies  is  the  person  who  lives  through  death,  and 
who  assumes  the  body  of  the  resurrection,  and  it  is  the 
person,  not  the  elements  which  make  up  the  personality, 
who  is  spoken  of  as  risen  from  the  dead.  The  vesture 
may  be  different,  but  the  wearer  is  the  same. 

So  that  resurrection  from  the  dead  is  the  end  of  a 
supernatural  life  begun  here  and  destined  to  culminate 
hereafter.  It  is  the  last  step  in  the  manifestation  of 
our  being  in  Christ,  and  so  is  being  prepared  for  here 
by  every  step  in  advance  in  gaining  Jesus.  It  should 
ever  be  before  every  Christian  soul  that  participation 
in  Christ  hereafter  is  conditioned  by  its  progress  in 
likeness  to  Him  here.  The  Resurrection  from  the  dead 
is  not  a  gift  which  can  be  bestowed  apart  from  a  man's 
moral  state.  If  he  dies  having  had  no  knowledge  by 
experience  of  the  power  of  Christ's  Resurrection,  there 
is  nothing  in  the  fact  of  death  to  give  him  that  know- 
ledge, and  it  is  impossible  to  bring  '  any  means '  to  bear 
on  him  by  which  he  will  attain  unto  the  '  resurrection 
from  the  dead.'  If  God  could  give  that  gift  irrespec- 
tive of  a  man's  relations  to  Jesus,  He  would  give  it  to 
all.  Let  us  ask  ourselves,  then,  is  it  not  worth  making 
the  dominant  aim  of  our  lives  the  same  as  that  of 
Paul's?  How  stands  our  account  then?  Are  we  not 
wise  traders  presenting  a  good  balance-sheet  when  we 
show  entered  on  the  one  side  the  loss  of  all  things,  and 
on  the  other  the  gaining  of  Christ,  and  the  attaining 
the  resurrection  from  the  dead,  the  perfect  transforma- 
tion of  body,  soul,  and  spirit,  into  the  perfect  likeness 


848  PHILIPPIANS  rcH.iii. 

of  the  perfect  Lord?  Does  the  other  balance-sheet 
show  the  man  as  equally  solvent  who  enters  on  one 
side  the  gain  of  a  world,  and  on  the  other  a  Christless 
life,  to  be  followed  by  a  resurrection  in  which  is  no 
joy,  no  advance,  no  life,  but  which  is  a  resurrection  of 
judgment  ?  May  we  all  be  found  in  Him,  and  attain  to 
the  resurrection  from  the  dead  1 


LAID  HOLD  OF  AND  LAYING  HOLD 

•  I  follow  after  if  that  I  may  apprehend  that  for  which  also  I  was  apprehended 
of  Christ  Jesus.'— Phil.  iii.  12. 

•  I  WAS  laid  hold  of  by  Jesus  Christ.'  That  is  how  Paul 
thinks  of  what  we  call  his  conversion.  He  would 
never  have  *  turned '  unless  a  hand  had  been  laid  upon 
him.  A  strong  loving  grasp  had  gripped  him  in  the 
midst  of  his  career  of  persecution,  and  all  that  he 
had  done  was  to  yield  to  the  grip,  and  not  to 
wriggle  out  of  it.  The  strong  expression  suggests, 
as  it  seems  to  me,  the  suddenness  of  the  incident. 
Possibly  impressions  may  have  been  working  under- 
ground, ever  since  the  martyrdom  of  Stephen,  which 
were  undermining  his  convictions,  and  the  very  in- 
sanity of  his  zeal  may  have  been  due  to  an  uneasy 
consciousness  that  the  ground  was  yielding  beneath 
his  feet.  That  may  have  been  so,  but,  whether  it  were 
8o  or  not,  the  crisis  came  like  a  bolt  out  of  the  blue, 
and  he  was  checked  in  full  career,  as  if  a  voice  had 
spoken  to  the  sea  in  its  wildest  storm,  and  frozen  its 
waves  into  immobility. 

There  is  suggested  in  the  word,  too,  distinctly,  our 
Lord's  personal  action  in  the  matter.    No  doubt,  the 


T.  12]  LAID  HOLD  OF,  LAYING  HOLD     849 

fact  of  His  supernatural  appearance  gives  emphasis 
to  the  phrase  here.  Bat  every  Christian  man  and 
woman  has  been,  as  truly  as  ever  Paul  was,  laid  hold 
of  by  the  personal  action  of  Jesus  Christ.  He  is 
present  in  His  Word,  and,  by  multitudes  of  inward 
impulses  and  outward  providences,  He  is  putting  out  a 
gentle  and  a  firm  hand,  and  laying  it  upon  the 
shoulders  of  all  of  us.  Have  we  yielded  ?  Have  we 
resisted,  when  we  were  laid  hold  of  ?  Did  we  try  to 
get  away  ?  Did  we  plant  our  feet  and  say,  *  I  will  not 
be  drawn,'  or  did  we  simply  neglect  the  pressure  ?  If 
we  have  yielded,  my  text  tells  us  what  we  have  to  do 
next.  For  that  hand  is  laid  upon  a  man  for  a  purpose, 
and  that  purpose  is  not  secured  by  the  hand  being  laid 
upon  him,  unless  he,  in  his  turn,  will  put  out  a  hand 
and  grasp.  Our  activity  is  needed ;  that  activity  will 
not  be  put  forth  without  very  distinct  effort,  and  that 
effort  has  to  be  life-long,  because  our  grasp  at  the  best 
is  incomplete.  So  then,  we  have  here,  first  of  all,  to 
consider — 

I.  What  Christ  has  laid  His  grip  on  us  for. 

Now,  the  immediate  result  of  that  grasp,  when  it  is 
yielded  to,  is  the  sense  of  the  removal  of  guilt,  for- 
giveness of  sins,  acceptance  with  God.  But  these,  the 
immediate  results,  are  by  no  means  the  whole  results, 
although  a  great  many  of  us  live  as  if  we  thought  that 
the  only  thing  that  Christianity  is  meant  to  do  to  us 
is  that  it  bars  the  gates  of  some  future  hell,  and  brings 
to  us  the  message  of  forgiveness.  We  cannot  think 
too  nobly  or  too  loftily  of  that  gift  of  forgiveness,  the 
initial  gift  that  is  laid  in  every  Christian  man's  hands, 
but  we  may  think  too  exclusively  of  it,  and  a  great 
many  of  us  do  think  of  it  as  if  it  were  all  that  was 
to  be  given.    A  painter  has  to  clear  away  the  old  paint 


850  PHILIPPIANS  [cH.in. 

off  a  door,  or  a  wall,  before  he  lays  on  the  new.  The 
initial  gift  that  conies  from  being  laid  hold  of  by  Jesus 
Christ  is  the  burning  off  of  the  old  coat  of  paint.  But 
that  is  only  the  preliminary  to  the  laying  on  of  the 
new.  A  man  away  in  the  backwoods  will  spend  a 
couple  of  years  after  he  has  got  his  bit  of  land  in  felling 
and  burning  the  trees,  and  rooting  out  and  destroy- 
ing the  weeds.  But  is  that  what  he  got  the  clearing 
for?  That  is  only  a  preliminary  to  sowing  the  seed. 
My  friend !  If  Jesus  Christ  has  laid  hold  of  you,  and 
you  have  let  Him  keep  hold  of  you,  it  is  not  only  that 
you  may  be  forgiven,  not  only  that  you  may  sun  your- 
self in  the  light  of  God's  countenance,  and  feel  that  a 
new  blessed  relation  is  set  up  between  you  and  Him, 
but  there  are  great  purposes  lying  at  the  back  of  that, 
of  which  all  that  is  only  the  preliminary  and  the 
preparation. 

Conversion.  Yes ;  but  what  is  the  good  of  turning 
a  man  round  unless  he  goes  in  the  direction  in  which 
his  face  is  turned?  And  so  here  the  Apostle  having 
for  years  lived  in  the  light  of  that  great  thought,  that 
God  was  reconciled  in  Jesus  Christ,  and  that  he  was 
God's  friend,  discerns  far  beyond  that,  in  dim  per- 
spective, towering  high  above  the  land  in  the  front, 
the  snowy  sunlit  summits  of  a  great  range  to  which 
he  has  yet  to  climb,  and  says,  '  I  press  on  to  lay  hold 
of  that  for  which  I  was  laid  hold  of  by  Jesus 
Christ.' 

And  what  was  that?  On  the  road  to  Damascus 
Paul  was  only  told  one  thing,  that  Christ  had  grasped 
him  and  drawn  him  to  Himself  in  order  that  He 
might  make  him  a  chosen  vessel  to  bear  the  Word  far 
hence  amongst  the  Gentiles.  The  bearing  of  His  con- 
version upon  Paul  himself  was  never  mentioned.    The 


V.  12]  LAID  HOLD  OF,  LAYING  HOLD    851 

bearing  of  His  conversion  on  the  world  was  the  only- 
subject  that  Jesus  spoke  of  at  first.  But  here  Paul 
has  nothing  to  say  about  his  world-wide  mission.  He 
does  not  think  of  himself  as  being  called  to  be  an 
Apostle,  but  as  being  summoned  to  be  a  Christian. 
And  so,  forgetting  for  the  time  all  the  glorious  and 
yet  burdensome  obligations  which  were  laid  upon  him, 
and  the  discharge  of  which  was  the  very  life  of  his 
life,  he  thinks  only  of  what  affects  his  own  character, 
the  perfecting  of  which  he  regards  as  being  the  one 
thing  for  which  he  was  '  laid  hold  of  by  Christ  Jesus.' 
The  purpose  is  twofold.  No  Christian  man  is  made  a 
Christian  only  in  order  that  he  may  secure  his  own 
salvation ;  there  is  the  world  to  think  of.  No  Chris- 
tian man  is  made  a  Christian  only  in  order  that  he 
may  be  Christ's  instrument  for  carrying  the  Word  to 
other  people ;  there  is  himself  to  think  of.  And  these 
two  phases  of  the  purpose  for  which  Jesus  Christ  lays 
hold  upon  us  are  very  hard  to  unite  in  practice,  giving 
to  each  its  due  place  and  prominence,  and  they  are 
often  separated,  to  the  detriment  of  both  the  one  that 
is  attended  to,  and  the  one  that  is  neglected.  The 
monastic  life  has  not  produced  the  noblest  Christians ; 
and  there  are  pitfalls  lying  in  the  path  of  every  man 
who,  like  me,  has  for  his  profession  to  preach  the 
Gospel,  which,  if  they  are  fallen  into,  the  inward  life  is 
utterly  wrecked. 

The  two  sides  of  Christ's  purpose  have,  in  our 
practice,  to  be  held  together,  but  for  the  present  I  only 
wish  to  say  a  word  or  two  about  that  which,  as  I  have 
indicated,  is  but  one  hemisphere  of  the  completed  orb, 
and  that  is  our  personal  culture  and  growth  in  the 
divine  life.  What  did  Christ  lay  hold  of  me  for? 
Paul  answers  the  question  very  strikingly  and  beauti- 


852  PHILIPPIANS  [oh.  hi. 

fully  in  a  previous  verse.  Here  is  his  conception  of  the 
purpose,  'that  I  may  know  Him,  and  the  power  of  His 
resurrection,  and  the  fellowship  of  His  sufferings,  being 
made  conformable  unto  His  death,  if  by  any  means  I 
might  attain  unto  the  resurrection  of  the  dead.'  That 
is  what  you  were  forgiven  for ;  that  is  what  you  have 
•passed  from  death  unto  life'  for;  that  is  what  you 
have  come  into  the  sweet  fellowship  of  God,  and  can 
think  of  Him  as  your  Friend  and  Helper  for. 

Let  us  take  the  clauses  seriatim,  and  say  a  word 
about  each  of  them.  'That  I  may  know  Him.'  Ah! 
there  is  a  great  deal  more  in  Jesus  Christ  than  a  man 
sees  when  he  first  sees  Him  through  his  tears  and  his 
fears,  and  apprehends  Him  as  the  Saviour  of  his  soul, 
and  the  sacrifice  on  whom  the  burden  and  the  guilt  of 
his  sins  were  laid.  We  must  begin  there,  as  I  believe. 
But  woe  to  us  if  we  stop  there.  There  is  far  more  in 
Christ  than  that;  although  all  that  is  in  Him  is  in- 
cluded in  that,  yet  you  have  to  dig  deep  before  you 
find  all  that  is  included  in  it.  You  have  to  live  with 
Him  day  by  day,  and  year  by  year,  and  to  learn  to 
know  Him  as  we  learn  to  know  husbands  and  wives, 
by  continual  intercourse,  by  continual  experience  of  a 
sweet  and  unfailing  love,  by  many  a  sacred  hour  of 
interchange  of  affection  and  reception  of  gifts  and 
counsels.  It  is  only  thus  that  we  learn  to  know  what 
Jesus  Christ  is.  When  He  lays  hold  of  us.  He  comes 
like  the  angel  that  came  to  Peter  in  the  prison  in  the 
dark  and  awoke  him  out  of  his  sleep  and  said  '  Rise ! 
and  follow  me.'  It  is  only  when  we  get  out  into  the 
street,  and  have  been  with  Him  for  awhile,  and  the 
daylight  begins  to  stream  in,  that  we  see  clearly  the 
face  of  our  Deliverer,  and  know  Him  for  all  that  Ho 
is.    This  knowledge  is  not  the  sort  of  knowledge  that 


V.  12]   LAID  HOLD  OF,  LAYING  HOLD     858 

you  can  get  by  thinking,  or  out  of  a  book.  It  is  the 
knowledge  of  experience.  It  is  the  knowledge  of  love, 
it  is  the  knowledge  of  union,  and  it  is  in  order  that 
we  may  know  Christ  that  He  lays  his  hand  upon  us. 

*  The  power  of  His  Resurrection.'  Now,  by  that  I 
understand  a  similar  knowledge,  by  experience,  of  the 
risen  life  of  Jesus  Christ  flowing  into  us,  and  filling 
our  hearts  and  minds  with  its  own  power.  The  risen 
life  of  Jesus  is  the  nourishment  and  strengthening 
and  blessing  and  life  of  a  Christian.  Our  daily  ex- 
perience ought  to  be  that  there  comes,  wavelet  by 
wavelet,  that  silent,  gentle,  and  yet  omnipotent  influx 
into  our  empty  hearts,  the  very  life  of  Christ  Him- 
self. 

I  know  that  this  generation  says  that  that  is  mysti- 
cism. I  do  not  know  whether  it  is  mysticism  or  not. 
I  am  sure  it  is  truth ;  and  I  do  not  understand  Chris- 
tianity at  all,  unless  there  is  that  kind  of  mysticism, 
perfectly  wholesome  and  good,  in  it.  You  will  never 
know  Jesus  Christ  until  you  know  Him  as  pouring  into 
your  hearts  the  power  of  an  endless  life,  His  own  life. 
Christ  for  us  by  all  means, — Christ's  death  the  basis  of 
our  hope,  but  Christ  in  us,  and  Christ's  life  as  the  true 
gift  to  His  Church.  Have  you  got  that?  Do  you 
know  the  power  of  His  Resurrection  ? 

'The  fellowship  of  His  sufferings.'  Has  Paul  made 
a  mistake,  and  deserted  the  chronological  order? 
Why  does  he  put  the  '  fellowship  of  the  sufferings ' 
after  the  *  power  of  the  Resurrection '  ?  For  this  plain 
reason,  that  if  we  get  Christ's  life  into  our  hearts,  in 
the  measure  in  which  we  get  it  we  shall  bear  a  similar 
relation  to  the  world  which  He  bore  to  it,  and  in  our 
measure  will  •  fill  up  that  which  is  behind  in  the  suffer- 
ings of    Christ,'  and  will  understand  how  true  it   is 

z 


354  PHILIPPIANS  [ch.  hi. 

that  'if  they  hate  Me  they  will  hate  you  also.' 
Brethren,  the  test  of  us  who  have  the  life  of  Christ  Id 
our  hearts  is  that  we  shall,  in  some  measure,  suffer 
with  Him,  because  '  as  He  is,  so  are  we,  in  this  world,' 
and  because  we  must  in  that  case  look  upon  the  world, 
its  sins  and  its  sorrows,  with  something  of  the  sad 
gaze  with  which  He  looked  across  the  valley  to  the 
Temple  sparkling  in  the  morning  light,  and  wept  over 
it.  So  if  we  know  the  power  of  His  Resurrection  we 
shall  know  the  fellowship  of  His  sufferings. 

And  then  Paul  goes  on,  in  his  definition  of  the  pur- 
pose for  which  Christ  lays  hold  upon  men,  apparently 
to  say  the  same  thing  over  again,  only  in  the  opposite 
order,  *  that  I  may  be  conformable  to  His  death,  if  by 
any  means  I  might  attain  unto  the  resurrection  of  the 
dead.'  Both  of  these  clauses,  I  think,  refer  to  the 
future,  to  the  actual  dying  of  the  body,  and  the  actual 
future  resurrection  of  the  same.  And  the  thought  is 
this,  that  if  here,  through  our  earthly  lives,  we  have 
been  recipients  of  the  risen  life  of  Jesus  Christ,  and 
BO  have  stood  to  the  world  in  our  degree  as  He  stood 
to  it,  then  when  the  moment  of  death  comes  to  us, 
we  shall,  in  so  far,  have  our  departure  shaped  after 
His  as  that  we  shall  be  able  to  say,  *  Into  Thy  hands  I 
commit  my  spirit,'  and  die  willingly,  and  at  last  shall 
be  partakers  of  that  blessed  Resurrection  unto  life 
eternal  which  closes  the  vista  of  our  earthly  history. 
Stephen's  death  was  conformed  to  Christ's  in  outward 
fashion,  in  so  far  as  it  echoed  the  Master's  prayer, 
•Father  forgive  them,  for  they  know  not  what  they 
do,'  and  in  so  far  as  it  echoed  the  Master's  last  words, 
with  the  significant  alteration  that,  whilst  Jesus  com- 
mended His  spirit  to  the  Father,  the  first  martyr 
commended  his  to  Jesus  Christ. 


V.12]   LAID  HOLD  OF,  LAYING  HOLD     855 

These,  then,  are  the  purposes  for  which  Christ  laid 
His  hand  upon  us,  that  we  might  know  Him,  the 
power  of  His  Resurrection,  the  fellowship  of  His 
sufferings,  being  made  conformable  to  His  death  yet 
by  attaining  the  resurrection  of  the  dead. 

II.  Notice,  again,  our  laying  hold  because  we  have 
been  laid  hold  of. 

Christ's  laying  hold  of  me,  blessed  and  powerful  as 
it  is,  does  not  of  itself  secure  that  I  shall  reach  the 
end  which  He  had  in  view  in  His  arresting  of  me. 
What  more  is  wanted  ?  My  effort.  '  I  follow  after  if 
I  may  apprehend  that  for  which  also  I  am  appre- 
hended.' Now,  notice,  in  the  one  case,  the  Apostle 
speaks  of  himself,  not  as  passive,  but  certainly  not  as 
active.  '  I  was  laid  hold  of.'  What  did  he  do  ?  As  I 
have  said,  he  simply  yielded  to  the  grasp.  But  *  I  may 
lay  hold  of '  conveys  the  idea  of  personal  effort ;  and 
so  these  two  expressions,  *I  was  apprehended,'  and  *I 
apprehend,'  suggest  this  consideration,  that,  for  the 
initial  blessings  of  the  Christian  life,  forgiveness, 
acceptance,  the  sense  of  God's  favour,  and  of  recon- 
ciliation with  him,  nothing  is  needed  but  the  simple 
faith  that  yields  itself  altogether  to  the  grasp  of 
Christ's  hand,  but  that  for  my  possessing  what  Christ 
means  that  I  should  possess  when  He  lays  His  hand  on 
me,  there  is  needed  not  only  faith  but  effort.  I  have  to 
put  out  my  hand  and  tighten  my  fingers  round  the 
thing,  if  I  would  make  it  my  own,  and  keep  it. 

So — faith,  to  begin  with,  and  work  based  on  faith, 
to  go  on  with.  It  is  because  a  man  is  sure  that  Jesus 
Christ  has  laid  His  hand  upon  him,  and  meant  some- 
thing when  He  did  it,  that  he  fights  on  with  all  his 
might  to  realise  Christ's  purpose,  and  to  get  and  keep 
the  thing  which  Christ  meant  him  to  have.    There  is 


856  PHILIPPIANS  [ch.  iii. 

stimulus  in  the  thought,  I  was  laid  hold  of  by  Him 
for  a  purpose.  There  is  all  the  difference  between 
striving,  however  eagerly,  however  nobly,  however 
strenuously,  however  constantly,  after  self-improve- 
ment, by  one's  own  effort  only,  and  striving  after  it 
because  one  knows  that  he  is  therein  fulfilling  the 
purpose  for  which  Jesus  Christ  drew  him  to  Himself. 

And  if  that  be  so,  then  the  nature  of  the  thing  to 
be  laid  hold  of  determines  what  we  are  to  do  to  lay 
hold  of  it.  And  since  to  know  Christ,  and  the  power 
of  His  Resurrection,  and  the  fellowship  of  His  suffer- 
ings, is  the  aim  and  end  of  our  conversion,  the  way  to 
secure  it  must  be  keeping  in  continual  touch  with 
Jesus  by  meditating  upon  Him,  by  holding  many  a 
moment  of  still,  sacred,  sweet  communion  with  Him, 
by  carefully  avoiding  whatever  might  come  between 
us  and  our  knowledge  of  Him,  and  the  influx  of  His 
life  into  us,  and  by  yielding  ourselves,  day  by  day,  to 
the  continual  influence  of  His  divine  grace  upon  us, 
and  by  the  discipline  which  shall  make  our  inward 
natures  more  and  pfiore  capable  of  receiving  more  and 
more  of  that  dear  Lord.  These  being  the  things  to 
do,  in  regard  to  the  inward  life,  there  must  be  effort 
too,  in  regard  to  the  outward ;  for  we  must,  if  we  are 
to  lay  hold  of  that  for  which  we  are  laid  hold  of  by 
Jesus  Christ,  bring  all  the  outward  life  under  the 
dominion  of  this  inward  impulse,  and  when  the  flood 
pours  into  our  hearts  we  must,  by  many  a  sluice  and 
trench,  guide  it  into  every  corner  of  the  field,  that  all 
may  be  irrigated.  The  first  thing  they  do  when  they 
are  going  to  sow  rice  in  an  Eastern  field  is  to  flood  it, 
and  then  they  cast  in  the  seed,  and  it  germinates. 
Flood  your  lives  with  Christ,  and  then  sow  the  seed, 
and  you  will  get  a  crop, 


T.  12]  LAID  HOLD  OF,  LAYING  HOLD    857 

III.  Lastly,  the  text  suggests  the  incompleteness  of 
our  grasp. 

*  I  follow  that,'  says  Paul,  '  if  that  I  may  apprehend.' 
This  letter  was  written  far  on  in  his  career,  in  the 
time  of  his  imprisonment  in  Rome,  which  all  but 
ended  his  ministerial  activity ;  and  was  many  years 
after  that  day  on  the  road  to  Damascus.  And  yet, 
matured  Christian  and  exercised  Apostle  as  he  was, 
with  all  that  past  behind  him,  he  says, '  I  follow  after, 
that  I  may  apprehend.'  Ah,  brother,  our  experience 
must  be  incomplete,  for  we  have  an  infinite  aim  set 
before  us,  and  there  is  no  end  to  the  possibilities  of 
plunging  deeper  and  deeper  and  deeper  into  the 
knowledge  of  Christ,  and  having  larger  and  larger 
and  larger  draughts  of  the  fulness  of  His  life.  We 
have  only  been  like  goldseekers,  who  have  contented 
themselves  as  yet  with  washing  the  precious  grains  out 
of  the  gravel  of  the  river.  There  are  great  reefs  filled 
with  the  ore  that  we  have  not  touched.  Thank  God 
for  the  necessary  incompleteness  of  our  '  apprehend- 
ing.' It  is  the  very  salt  of  life.  To  have  realised  our 
aims,  to  have  fulfilled  our  ideals,  to  have  sucked  dry 
the  cluster  of  the  grapes  is  the  death  of  aspiration, 
of  hope,  of  blessedness ;  and  to  have  the  distance  beck- 
oning, and  all  experience  '  an  arch,  wherethro'  gleams 
the  untravelled  world  to  which  we  move,'  is  the  secret 
of  perpetual  youth  and  energy. 

Because  incomplete,  our  experience  should  be  pro- 
gressive ;  and  that  is  a  truth  that  needs  hammering 
into  Christian  people  to-day.  About  how  many  of  us 
can  it  be  said  that  our  light  *  shineth  more  and  more 
unto  the  noonday.'  Alas  !  about  an  enormous  number 
of  us  it  must  be  said,  '  When  for  the  time  ye  ought  to 
be  teachers,  ye  have  need  that  one  teach  you.'    All  our 


358  PHILIPPIANS  [ch.hl 

churches  have  many  grown  babies,  and  cases  of 
arrested  development — people  that  ought  to  be  living 
on  strong  meat,  and  are  unable  to  masticate  or  digest 
it,  and  by  their  own  fault  have  still  need  of  the  milk 
of  infancy.  There  is  an  old  fable  about  a  strange 
animal  that  fastened  itself  to  the  keel  of  sailing  ships, 
and  by  some  uncanny  power  was  able  to  arrest  them 
in  mid-ocean,  though  the  winds  were  filling  all  their 
sails.  There  is  a  remora,  as  they  called  it,  of  that  sort 
adhering  to  a  great  many  Christian  people,  and  keep- 
ing them  fixed  on  one  spot,  instead  of  'following  after, 
if  that  they  may  apprehend.' 

Dear  friends — and  especially  you  younger  Christians 
— Christ  has  laid  hold  of  you.  Well  and  good  !  that  is 
the  beginning.  He  has  laid  hold  of  you  for  an  end. 
That  end  will  not  be  reached  without  your  effort,  and 
that  effort  must  be  perpetual.  It  is  a  life-long  task. 
Ay !  and  even  up  yonder  the  apprehending  will  be 
incomplete.  Like  those  mathematical  lines  that  ever 
approximate  to  a  point  which  they  never  reach,  we 
shall  through  Eternity  be,  as  it  were,  rising,  in  ascend- 
ing and  ever-closer  drawing  spirals,  to  that  great 
Throne,  and  to  Him  that  sits  upon  it.  So  that,  striking 
out  the  humble  'may'  from  our  text,  the  rest  of  it 
describes  the  progressive  blessedness  of  the  endless 
life  in  the  heavens,  as  truly  as  it  does  the  progressive 
duty  of  the  Christian  life  here,  and  the  glorified  flock 
that  follows  the  Lamb  in  the  heavenly  pastures  may 
each  say:  I  follow  after  in  order  to  apprehend  that 
'  for  which,'  long  ago  and  down  amidst  the  dim 
shadows  of  earth,  *I  was  apprehended  of  Christ 
Jesus.' 


THE  RACE  AND  THE  GOAL 

'  This  one  thing  I  do,  forgetting  those  things  which  are  behind,  and  reaching 
forth  unto  those  things  which  are  before,  I  press  toward  the  mark  for  the  prize.'— 
Phil.  iii.  13,  14. 

This  buoyant  energy  and  onward  looking  are  marvel- 
lous in  '  Paul  the  aged,  and  now  also  a  prisoner  of 
Jesus  Christ.'  Forgetfulness  of  the  past  and  eager 
anticipation  for  the  future  are,  we  sometimes  think, 
the  child's  prerogatives.  They  may  be  ignoble  and 
puerile,  or  they  may  be  worthy  and  great.  All  depends 
on  the  future  to  which  we  look.  If  it  be  the  creation 
of  our  fancies,  we  are  babies  for  trusting  it.  If  it  be, 
as  Paul's  was,  the  revelation  of  God's  purposes,  we 
cannot  do  a  wiser  thing  than  look. 

The  Apostle  here  is  letting  us  see  the  secret  of  his 
own  life,  and  telling  us  what  made  him  the  sort  of 
Christian  that  he  was.  He  counsels  wise  obliviousness, 
wise  anticipation,  strenuous  concentration,  and  these 
are  the  things  that  contribute  to  success  in  any  field  of 
life.  Christianity  is  the  perfection  of  common  sense. 
Men  become  mature  Christians  by  no  other  means  than 
those  by  which  they  become  good  artisans,  ripe  scholars, 
or  the  like.  But  the  misery  is  that,  though  people 
know  well  enough  that  they  cannot  be  good  carpenters, 
or  doctors,  or  fiddlers  without  certain  habits  and 
practices,  they  seem  to  fancy  that  they  can  be  good 
Christians  without  them. 

So  the  words  of  my  text  may  suggest  appropriate 
thoughts  on  this  first  Sunday  of  a  new  year.  Let  us 
listen,  then,  to  Paul  telling  us  how  he  came  to  be  the 
sort  of  Christian  man  he  was. 

I.  First,  then,  I  would  say,  make  God's  aim  your  aim. 

Paul  distinguishes  here  between  the  '  mark '  and  the 

<6» 


860  PHILIPPIANS  [ch.  m. 

*  prize.'  He  aims  at  the  one  for  the  sake  of  the  other. 
The  one  is  the  object  of  effort;  the  other  is  the  sure 
result  of  successful  effort.  If  I  may  so  say,  the  crown 
hangs  on  the  winning  post;  and  he  who  touches  the 
goal  clutches  the  garland. 

Then,  mark  that  he  regards  the  aim  towards  which 
he  strains  as  being  the  aim  which  Christ  had  in  view  in 
his  conversion.    For  he  says  in  the  preceding  context, 

•  I  labour  if  that  I  may  lay  hold  of  that  for  which  also 
I  have  been  laid  hold  of  by  Jesus  Christ.'  In  the  words 
that  follow  the  text  he  speaks  of  the  prize  as  being  the 
result  and  purpose  of  the  high  calling  of  God  '  in  Christ 
Jesus.'  So  then  he  took  God's  purpose  in  calling,  and 
Christ's  purpose  in  redeeming  him,  as  being  his  great 
object  in  life.    God's  aims  and  Paul's  were  identical. 

What,  then,  is  the  aim  of  God  in  all  that  He  has  done 
for  us  ?  The  production  in  us  of  God-like  and  God- 
pleasing  character.  For  this  suns  rise  and  set ;  for  this 
seasons  and  times  come  and  go ;  for  this  sorrows  and 
joys  are  experienced ;  for  this  hopes  and  fears  and 
loves  are  kindled.  For  this  all  the  discipline  of  life  is 
set  in  motion.  For  this  we  were  created ;  for  this  we 
have  been  redeemed.  For  this  Jesus  Christ  lived  and 
suffered  and  died.  For  this  God's  Spirit  is  poured  out 
upon  the  world.  All  else  is  scaffolding;  this  is  the 
building  which  it  contemplates,  and  when  the  building 
is  reared  the  scaffolding  may  be  cleared  away.  God 
means  to  make  us  like  Himself,  and  so  pleasing  to 
Himself,  and  has  no  other  end  in  all  the  varieties  of 
His  gifts  and  bestowments  but  only  this,  the  production 
of  character. 

Such  is  the  aim  that  we  should  set  before  us.  The 
acceptance  of  that  aim  as  ours  will  give  nobleness  and 
blessedness  to  our  lives  as   nothing  else  will.    How 


vs.  13,14]  THE  RACE  AND  THE  GOAL    361 

different  all  our  estimates  of  the  meaning  and  true 
nature  of  events  would  be,  if  we  kept  clearly  before  us 
that  their  intention  was  not  merely  to  make  us  blessed 
and  glad,  or  to  make  us  sorrowful,  but  that,  through 
the  blessedness,  through  the  sorrow,  through  the  gift, 
through  the  withdrawal,  through  all  the  variety  of 
dealings,  the  intention  was  one  and  the  same,  to  mould 
us  to  the  likeness  of  our  Lord  and  Saviour  I  There 
would  be  fewer  mysteries  in  our  lives,  we  should 
seldomer  have  to  stand  in  astonishment,  in  vain  regret, 
in  miserable  and  weakening  looking  back  upon  vanished 
gifts,  and  saying  to  ourselves,  *  Why  has  this  darkness 
stooped  upon  my  path  ? '  if  we  looked  beyond  the  dark- 
ness and  the  light  to  that  for  which  both  were  sent. 
Some  plants  require  frost  to  bring  out  their  savour, 
and  men  need  sorrow  to  test  and  to  produce  their 
highest  qualities.  There  would  be  fewer  knots  in  the 
thread  of  our  lives,  and  fewer  mysteries  in  our  experi- 
ence, if  we  made  God's  aim  ours,  and  strove  through 
all  variations  of  condition  to  realise  it. 

How  different  all  our  estimate  of  nearer  objects  and 
aims  would  be,  if  once  we  clearly  recognised  what  we 
are  here  for!  The  prostitution  of  powers  to  obviously 
unworthy  aims  and  ends  is  the  saddest  thing  in 
humanity.  It  is  like  elephants  being  set  to  pick  up 
pins ;  it  is  like  the  lightning  being  harnessed  to  carry 
all  the  gossip  and  filth  of  one  capital  of  the  world  to 
the  prurient  readers  in  another.  Men  take  these  great 
powers  which  God  has  given  them,  and  use  them  to 
make  money,  to  cultivate  their  intellects,  to  secure 
the  gratification  of  earthly  desires,  to  make  a  home 
for  themselves  here  amidst  the  illusions  of  time ;  and 
all  the  while  the  great  aim  which  ought  to  stand  out 
clear  and  supreme  is  forgotten  by  them. 


862  PHILIPPIANS  [ch.iii. 

There  is  nothing  that  needs  more  careful  examina- 
tion by  us  than  our  accepted  schemes  of  life  for  our- 
selves; the  roots  of  our  errors  mostly  lie  in  these 
things  that  we  take  to  be  axioms,  and  that  we  never 
examine  into.  Let  us  begin  this  new  year  by  an  honest 
dealing  with  ourselves,  asking  ourselves  this  question, 
'What  am  I  living  for?'  And  if  the  answer,  first  of 
all,  be,  as,  of  course,  it  will  be,  the  accomplishment  of 
the  nearer  and  necessary  aims,  such  as  the  conduct  of 
our  business,  the  cultivating  of  our  understandings, 
the  love  and  peace  of  our  homes,  then  let  us  press  the 
investigation  a  little  further,  and  say,  What  then? 
Suppose  I  make  a  fortune,  what  then?  Suppose  I  get 
the  position  I  am  striving  for,  what  then  ?  Suppose  I 
cultivate  my  understanding  and  win  the  knowledge 
that  I  am  nobly  striving  after,  what  then  ?  Let  us  not 
cease  to  ask  the  question  until  we  can  say, '  Thy  aim,  O 
Lord,  is  my  aim,  and  I  press  toward  the  mark,'  the  only 
mark  which  will  make  life  noble,  elastic,  stable,  and 
blessed,  that  I  'may  be  found  in  Christ,  not  having 
mine  own  righteousness,  but  that  which  is  of  God  by 
faith.'  For  this  we  have  all  been  made,  guided,  re- 
deemed. If  we  carry  this  treasure  out  of  life  we 
shall  carry  all  that  is  worth  carrying.  If  we  fail 
in  this  we  fail  altogether,  whatever  be  our  so-called 
success.  There  is  one  mark,  one  only,  and  every 
arrow  that  does  not  hit  that  target  is  wasted  and 
spent  in  vain. 

II.  Secondly,  let  me  say,  concentrate  all  ejBPort  on 
this  one  aim. 

'This  one  thing  I  do,'  says  the  Apostle,  *!  press 
toward  the  mark.'  That  aim  is  the  one  which  God  has 
in  view  in  all  circumstances  and  arrangements.  There- 
fore, obviously,  it  is  one  which  may  be  pursued  in  all 


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vs.  13,14]  THE  RACE  AND  THE  GOAL    363 

of  these,  and  may  be  sought  whatsoever  we  are  doing. 
All  occupations  of  life  except  only  sin  are  consistent 
with  this  highest  aim.  It  needs  not  that  we  should 
seek  any  remote  or  cloistered  form  of  life,  nor  sheer  off 
any  legitimate  and  common  interests  and  occupations, 
but  in  them  all  we  may  be  seeking  for  the  one  thing, 
the  moulding  of  our  characters  into  the  shapes  that  are 
pleasing  to  Him.  '  One  thing  have  I  desired  of  the 
Lord,  that  will  I  seek  after,  that  I  may  dwell  in  the 
house  of  the  Lord  all  the  days  of  my  life ' ;  wheresoever 
the  outward  days  of  my  life  may  be  passed.  What- 
soever we  are  doing  in  business,  in  shop,  at  a  study 
table,  in  the  kitchen,  in  the  nursery,  by  the  road,  in  the 
house,  we  may  still  have  the  supreme  aim  in  view, 
that  from  all  occupations  there  may  come  growth  in 
character  and  in  likeness  to  Jesus  Christ. 

Only,  to  keep  this  supreme  aim  clear  there  will 
require  far  more  frequent  and  resolute  effort  of  what 
the  old  mystics  used  to  call  *  recollection '  than  we  are 
accustomed  to  put  forth.  It  is  hard,  amidst  the  din  of 
business,  and  vrhilst  yielding  to  other  lower,  legitimate 
impulses  and  motives,  to  set  this  supreme  one  high 
above  them  all.  But  it  is  possible  if  only  we  will  do 
two  things:  keep  ourselves  close  to  God,  and  be  prepared 
to  surrender  much,  laying  our  own  wills,  our  own 
fancies,  purposes,  eager  hopes  and  plans  in  His  hands, 
and  asking  Him  to  help  us,  that  we  may  never  lose 
sight  of  the  harbour  light  because  of  any  tossing  waves 
that  rise  between  us  and  it,  nor  may  ever  be  so 
swallowed  up  in  ends,  which  are  only  means  after  all, 
as  to  lose  sight  of  the  only  end  which  is  an  end  in  itself. 
But  for  the  attainment  of  this  aim  in  any  measure,  the 
concentration  of  all  our  powers  upon  it  is  absolutely 
needful.    If  you  want  to  bore  a  hole  you  take  a  sharp 


864  PHILIPPIANS  [ch.  hi. 

point ;  you  can  do  nothing  with  a  hlunt  one.  Every 
flight  of  wild  ducks  in  the  sky  will  tell  you  the  form 
that  is  most  likely  to  secure  the  maximum  of  motion 
with  the  minimum  of  effort.  The  wedge  is  that  which 
pierces  through  all  the  loosely-compacted  textures 
against  which  it  is  pressed.  The  Roman  strategy 
forced  the  way  of  the  legion  through  the  loose-ordered 
ranks  of  barbarian  foes  by  arraying  it  in  that  wedge- 
like form.  So  we,  if  we  are  to  advance,  must  gather 
ourselves  together  and  put  a  point  upon  our  lives  by 
compaction  and  concentration  of  effort  and  energy  on 
the  one  purpose.  The  conquering  word  is,  'This  one 
thing  I  do.'  The  difference  between  the  amateur  and 
the  artist  is  that  the  one  pursues  an  art  at  intervals  by 
spurts,  as  a  parergon — a  thing  that  is  done  in  the 
intervals  of  other  occupations — and  that  the  other 
makes  it  his  life's  business.  There  are  a  great  many 
amateur  Christians  amongst  us,  who  pursue  the  Chris- 
tian life  by  spurts  and  starts.  If  you  want  to  be  a 
Christian  after  God's  pattern — and  unless  you  are  you 
are  scarcely  a  Christian  at  all — you  have  to  make  it  your 
business,  to  give  the  same  attention,  the  same  con- 
centration, the  same  unwavering  energy  to  it  which 
you  do  to  your  trade.  The  man  of  one  book,  the  man 
of  one  idea,  the  man  of  one  aim  is  the  formidable  and 
the  successful  man.  People  will  call  you  a  fanatic ; 
never  mind.  Better  be  a  fanatic  and  get  what  you  aim 
at,  which  is  the  highest  thing,  than  be  so  broad  that, 
like  a  stream  spreading  itself  out  over  miles  of  mud, 
there  is  no  scour  in  it  anywhere,  no  current,  and  there- 
fore stagnation  and  death.  Gather  yourselves  together, 
and  amidst  all  the  side  issues  and  nearer  aims  keep 
this  in  view  as  the  aim  to  which  all  are  to  be  sub- 
servient— that,  *  whether  I  eat  or  drink,  or  whatsoever 


V8.13,U]  THE  RACE  AND  THE  GOAL     365 

I  do,  I  may  do  all  to  the  glory  of  God.'  Let  sorrow  and 
joy,  and  trade  and  profession,  and  study  and  business, 
and  house  and  wife  and  children,  and  all  home  joys,  be 
the  means  by  which  you  may  become  like  the  Master 
who  has  died  for  this  end,  that  we  may  become 
partakers  of  His  holiness. 

III.  Pursue  this  end  with  a  wise  forgetf ulness. 

*  Forgetting  the  things  that  are  behind.'  The  art  of 
forgetting  has  much  to  do  with  the  blessedness  and 
power  of  every  life.  Of  course,  when  the  Apostle  says 
'  Forgetting  the  things  that  are  behind,'  he  is  thinking 
of  the  runner,  who  has  no  time  to  cast  his  eye  over  his 
shoulder  to  mark  the  steps  already  trod.  He  does  not 
mean,  of  course,  either,  to  tell  us  that  we  are  so  to 
cultivate  obliviousness  as  to  let  God's  mercies  to  us 
•lie  forgotten  in  unthankf ulness,  or  without  praises 
die.'  Nor  does  he  mean  to  tell  us  that  we  are  to  deny 
ourselves  the  solace  of  remembering  the  mercies  which 
may,  perhaps,  have  gone  from  us.  Memory  may  be 
like  the  calm  radiance  that  fills  the  western  sky  from 
a  sun  that  has  set,  sad  and  yet  sweet,  melancholy  and 
lovely.  But  he  means  that  we  should  so  forget  as,  by 
the  oblivion,  to  strengthen  our  concentration. 

So  I  would  say,  let  us  remember,  and  yet  forget,  our 
past  failures  and  faults.  Let  us  remember  them  in 
order  that  the  remembrance  may  cultivate  in  us  a  wise 
chastening  of  our  self-confidence.  Let  us  remember 
where  we  were  foiled,  in  order  that  we  may  be  the 
more  careful  of  that  place  hereafter.  If  we  know  that 
upon  any  road  we  fell  into  ambushes,  'not  once  nor 
twice,'  like  the  old  king  of  Israel,  we  should  guard  our- 
selves against  passing  by  that  road  again.  He  who 
has  not  learned,  by  the  memory  of  his  past  failures, 
humility  and  wise  government  of  his  life,  and  wise 


366  PHILIPPIANS  [ch.  iil 

avoidance  of  places  where  he  is  weak,  is  an  incurable 
fool. 

But  let  us  forget  our  failures  in  so  far  as  these  might 
paralyse  our  hopes,  or  make  us  fancy  that  future 
success  is  impossible  where  past  failures  frown. 
Ebenezer  was  a  field  of  defeat  before  it  rang  with  the 
hymns  of  victory.  And  there  is  no  place  in  your  past 
life  where  you  have  been  shamefully  baffled  and  beaten, 
but  there,  and  in  that,  you  may  yet  be  victorious. 
Never  let  the  past  limit  your  hopes  of  the  possibilities 
and  your  confidence  in  the  certainties  and  victories  of 
the  future.  And  if  ever  you  are  tempted  to  say  to 
yourselves,  *  I  have  tried  it  so  often,  and  so  often  failed, 
that  it  is  no  use  trying  it  any  more.  I  am  beaten  and 
I  throw  up  the  sponge,'  remember  Paul's  wise  exhorta- 
tion, and  'forgetting  the  things  that  are  behind  .  .  . 
press  toward  the  mark.' 

In  like  manner  I  would  say,  remember  and  yet  forget 
past  successes  and  achievements.  Remember  them  for 
thankfulness,  remember  them  for  hope,  remember 
them  for  counsel  and  instruction,  but  forget  them 
when  they  tend,  as  all  that  we  accomplish  does  tend, 
to  make  us  fancy  that  little  more  remains  to  be  done ; 
and  forget  them  when  they  tend,  as  all  that  we 
accomplish  ever  does  tend,  to  make  us  think  that  such 
and  such  things  are  our  line,  and  of  other  virtues  and 
graces  and  achievements  of  culture  and  of  character, 
that  these  are  not  our  line,  and  not  to  be  won  by  us. 

'  Our  line ! '  Astronomers  take  a  thin  thread  from  a 
spider's  web  and  stretch  it  across  their  object  glasses 
to  measure  stellar  magnitudes.  Just  as  is  the  spider's 
line  in  comparison  with  the  whole  shining  surface  of 
the  sun  across  which  it  is  stretched,  so  is  what  we  have 
already  attained  to  the  boundless  might  and  glory  of 


vs.  13,14]  THE  RACE  AND  THE  GOAL    367 

that  to  which  we  may  come.  Nothing  short  of  the  full 
measure  of  the  likeness  of  Jesus  Christ  is  the  measure 
of  our  possibilities. 

There  is  a  mannerism  in  Christian  life,  as  there  is  in 
everything  else,  which  is  to  be  avoided  if  we  would 
grow  into  perfection.  There  was  a  great  artist  in  the 
last  century  who  never  could  paint  a  picture  without 
sticking  a  br^^wn  tree  in  the  foreground.  We  have  all 
got  our  '  brown  trees,'  which  we  think  we  can  do  well, 
and  these  limit  our  ambition  to  secure  other  gifts 
which  God  is  ready  to  bestow  upon  us.  So  '  forget  the 
things  that  are  behind.'  Cultivate  a  wise  obliviousness 
of  past  sorrows,  past  joys,  past  failures,  past  gifts,  past 
achievements,  in  so  far  as  these  might  limit  the  audacity 
of  our  hopes  and  the  energy  of  our  efforts. 

IV.  So,  lastly,  pursue  the  aim  with  a  wise,  eager 
reaching  forward. 

The  Apostle  employs  a  very  graphic  word  here,  which 
is  only  very  partially  expressed  by  that '  reaching  forth.' 
It  contains  a  condensed  picture  which  it  is  scarcely 
possible  to  put  into  any  one  expression.  'Reaching 
out  over'  is  the  full  though  clumsy  rendering  of  the 
word,  and  it  gives  us  the  picture  of  the  runner  with 
his  whole  body  thrown  forward,  his  hand  extended, 
and  his  eye  reaching  even  further  than  his  hand,  in 
eager  anticipation  of  the  mark  and  the  prize.  So  we 
are  to  live,  w^ith  continual  reaching  out  of  confidence, 
clear  recognition,  and  eager  desire  to  make  our  own 
the  unattained. 

What  is  that  which  gives  an  element  of  nobleness  to 
the  lives  of  great  idealists,  whether  they  be  poets, 
artists,  students,  thinkers,  or  what  not?  Only  this, 
that  they  see  the  unattained  burning  ever  so  clearly 
before  them  that  all  the  attained  seems  as  nothing  in 


368  PHILIPPIANS  [oh.  hi. 

their  eyes.  And  so  life  is  saved  from  commonplace, 
is  happily  stung  into  fresh  effort,  is  redeemed  from 
flagging,  monotony,  and  weariness. 

The  measure  of  our  attainments  may  be  fairly  esti- 
mated by  the  extent  to  which  the  unattained  is  clear 
in  ovir  sight.  A  man  down  in  the  valley  sees  the  nearer 
shoulder  of  the  hill,  and  he  thinks  it  the  top.  The  man 
up  on  the  shoulder  sees  all  the  heights  that  lie  beyond 
rising  above  him.  Endeavour  is  better  than  success. 
It  is  more  to  see  the  Alpine  heights  unsealed  than  it  is 
to  have  risen  so  far  as  we  have  done.  They  who  thus 
have  a  boundless  future  before  them  have  an  endless 
source  of  inspiration,  of  energy,  of  buoyancy  granted 
to  them. 

No  man  has  such  an  absolutely  boundless  vision  of 
the  future  which  may  be  his  as  we  have,  if  we  are 
Christian  people,  as  we  ought  to  be.  "We  only  can  thus 
look  forward.  For  all  others  a  blank  wall  stretches  at 
the  end  of  life,  against  which  hopes,  when  they  strike, 
fall  back  stunned  and  dead.  But  for  us  the  wall  may 
be  overleaped,  and,  living  by  the  energy  of  a  boundless 
hope,  we,  and  only  we,  can  lay  ourselves  down  to  die, 
and  say  then,  'Reaching  forth  unto  the  things  that 
are  before.' 

So,  dear  friends,  make  God's  aim  your  aim ;  concen- 
trate your  life's  efforts  upon  it;  pursue  it  with  a  wise 
f orgetf ulness ;  pursue  it  with  an  eager  confidence  of 
anticipation  that  shall  not  be  put  to  shame.  Remember 
that  God  reaches  His  aim  for  you  by  giving  to  you 
Jesus  Christ,  and  that  you  can  only  reach  it  by  accept- 
ing the  Christ  who  is  given  and  being  found  in  Him. 
Then  the  years  will  take  away  nothing  from  us  which 
it  is  not  gain  to  lose.  They  will  neither  weaken  our 
energy  nor  flatten  our  hopes,  nor  dim  our  confidence, 


VB.18,U]  THE  SOUL'S  PERFECTION  369 

and,  at  the  last  we  shall  reach  the  mark,  and,  as  we 
touch  it,  we  shall  find  dropping  on  our  surprised  and 
humble  heads  the  crown  of  life  which  they  receive  who 
have  so  run,  not  as  uncertainly,  but  doing  this  one 
thing,  pressing  towards  the  mark  for  the  prize. 


THE  SOUL'S  PERFECTION 

Let  ns  therefore,  as  many  as  be  perfect,  be  thus  minded :  and  if  in  anything  ye 
be  otherwise  minded,  God  shall  reveal  even  this  unto  you.'— Phil.  iii.  15. 

'As  many  as  be  perfect';  and  how  many  may  they  be? 
Surely  a  very  short  bede-roll  would  contain  their  names; 
or  would  there  be  any  other  but  the  Name  which  is 
above  every  name  upon  it  ?  Part  of  the  answer  to 
such  a  question  may  be  found  in  observing  that  the 
New  Testament  very  frequently  uses  the  word  to 
express  not  so  much  the  idea  of  moral  completeness 
as  that  of  physical  maturity.  For  instance,  when  Paul 
says  that  he  would  have  his  converts  to  be  'men  in 
understanding,'  and  when  the  Epistle  to  the  Hebrews 
speaks  of  '  them  that  are  of  full  age,'  the  same  word  is 
used  as  this  '  perfect '  in  our  text.  Clearly  in  such  cases 
it  means  '  full  grown,'  as  in  contrast  with  *  babes,'  and 
expresses  not  absolute  completeness,  but  what  we 
may  term  a  relative  perfection,  a  certain  maturity  of 
character  and  advanced  stage  of  Christian  attain- 
ment, far  removed  from  the  infantile  epoch  of  the 
Christian  life. 

Another  contribution  to  the  answer  may  be  found 
in  observing  that  in  this  very  context  these  '  perfect ' 
people  are  exhorted  to  cultivate  the  sense  of  not  having 
•  already  attained,*  and  to  be  constantly  reaching  forth 

2\ 


370  PHILIPPIANS  [ch.  ra. 

to  unattained  heights,  so  that  a  sense  of  imperfection 
and  a  continual  effort  after  higher  life  are  parts  of 
Paul's  'perfect  man.'  And  it  is  to  be  still  further 
noticed  that  on  the  same  testimony  'perfect'  people 
may  probably  be  '  otherwise  minded ' ;  by  which  we 
understand  not  divergently  minded  from  one  another, 
but  'otherwise'  than  the  true  norm  or  law  of  life 
would  prescribe,  and  so  may  stand  in  need  of  the  hope 
that  God  will  by  degrees  bring  them  into  conformity 
with  His  will,  and  show  them  'this,'  namely,  their 
divergence  from  His  Pattern  for  them. 

It  is  worth  our  while  to  look  at  these  large  thoughts 
thus  involved  in  the  words  before  us. 

I.  Then  there  are  people  whom  without  exaggeration 
the  judgment  of  truth  calls  'perfect. 

The  language  of  the  New  Testament  has  no  scruple 
in  calling  men  '  saints '  who  had  many  sins,  and  none  in 
calling  men  perfect  who  had  many  imperfections ;  and 
it  does  so,  not  because  it  has  any  fantastic  theory  about 
religious  emotions  being  the  measure  of  moral  purity, 
but  partly  for  the  reasons  already  referred  to,  and 
partly  because  it  wisely  considers  the  main  thing  about 
a  character  to  be  not  the  degree  to  which  it  has  attained 
completeness  in  its  ideal,  but  what  that  ideal  is.  The 
distance  a  man  has  got  on  his  journey  is  of  less  con- 
sequence than  the  direction  in  which  his  face  is  turned. 
The  arrow  may  fall  short,  but  to  what  mark  was  it 
shot  ?  In  all  regions  of  life  a  wise  classification  of  men 
arranges  them  according  to  their  aims  rather  than 
their  achievements.  The  visionary  who  attempts  some- 
thing high  and  accomplishes  scarcely  anything  of  it, 
is  often  a  far  nobler  man,  and  his  poor,  broken,  foiled, 
resultless  life  far  more  perfect  than  his  who  aims  at 
marks  on  the  low  levels  and  hits  them  full.    Such  lives 


▼.16]        THE  SOUL'S  PERFECTION         371 

as  these,  full  of  yearning  and  aspiration,  though  it  be 
for  the  most  part  vain,  are 

'  Like  the  young  moon  with  a  ragged  edge 
E'en  in  its  imperfection  beautiful.' 

If  then  it  be  wise  to  rank  men  and  their  pursuits 
according  to  their  aims  rather  than  their  accomplish- 
ments, is  there  one  class  of  aims  so  absolutely  corre- 
sponding to  man's  nature  and  relations  that  to  take 
them  for  one's  own,  and  to  reach  some  measure  of 
approximation  to  them,  may  fairly  be  called  the  per- 
fection of  human  nature  ?  Is  there  one  way  of  living 
concerning  which  we  may  say  that  whosoever  adopts 
it  has,  in  so  far  as  he  does  adopt  it,  discerned  and 
attained  the  purpose  of  his  being  ?  The  literal  force 
of  the  word  in  our  text  gives  pertinence  to  that 
question,  for  it  distinctly  means  'having  reached  the 
end.'  And  if  that  be  taken  as  the  meaning,  there  need 
be  no  doubt  about  the  answer.  Grand  old  words  have 
taught  us  long  ago  '  Man's  chief  end  is  to  glorify  God 
and  to  enjoy  Him  for  ever.'  Yes,  he  who  lives  for  God 
has  taken  that  for  his  aim  which  all  his  nature  and  all 
his  relations  prescribe,  he  is  doing  what  he  was  made 
and  meant  to  do ;  and  however  incomplete  may  be  its 
attainments,  the  lowest  form  of  a  God-fearing,  God- 
obeying  life  is  higher  and  more  nearly  '  perfect '  than 
the  fairest  career  or  character  against  which,  as  a 
blight  on  all  its  beauty,  the  damning  accusation  may 
be  brought,  '  The  God  in  whose  hand  thy  breath  is,  and 
whose  are  all  thy  ways,  thou  hast  not  glorified.' 

People  sneer  at  '  saints '  and  point  at  their  failings. 
They  remind  us  of  the  foul  stains  in  David's  career,  for 
instance,  and  mock  as  they  ask,  *  Is  this  your  man  after 
God's  own  heart  ? '    Yes,  he  is ;  not  because  religion  has 


872  PHILIPPIANS  [oh.  hi. 

a  morality  of  its  own  different  from  that  of  the  world 
(except  as  being  higher),  nor  because  '  saints '  make  up 
for  adultery  and  murder  by  making  or  singing  psalms, 
but  because  the  main  set  and  current  of  the  life  was 
evidently  towards  God  and  goodness,  and  these  hideous 
sins  were  glaring  contradictions,  eddies  and  backwaters, 
as  it  were,  wept  over  with  bitter  self-abasement  and 
conquered  by  strenuous  effort.  Better  a  life  of  God- 
ward  aspiration  and  straining  after  purity,  even  if 
broken  by  such  a  fall,  so  recovered,  than  one  of  habitual 
earthward  grubbing,  undisturbed  by  gross  sin. 

And  another  reason  warrants  the  application  of  the 
word  to  men  whose  present  is  full  of  incompleteness, 
namely,  the  fact  that  such  men  have  in  them  the 
germ  of  a  life  which  has  no  natural  end  but  absolute 
completeness.  The  small  seed  may  grow  very  slowly 
in  the  climate  and  soil  which  it  finds  here,  and  be  only 
a  poor  little  bit  of  ragged  green,  very  shabby  and  in- 
conspicuous by  the  side  of  the  native  flowers  of  earth 
flaunting  around  it,  but  it  has  a  divine  germinant  virtue 
within,  and  waits  but  being  carried  to  its  own  clime 
and  'planted  in  the  house  of  the  Lord'  above,  to 
'  flourish  in  the  courts  of  our  God,'  when  these  others 
with  their  glorious  beauty  have  faded  away  and  are 
flung  out  to  rot. 

II.  We  have  set  forth  here  very  distinctly  two  of  the 
characteristics  of  this  perfection. 

The  Apostle  in  our  text  exhorts  the  perfect  to  be  '  thus 
minded.'  How  is  that?  Evidently  the  word  points 
back  to  the  previous  clauses,  in  which  he  has  been 
describing  his  own  temper  and  feeling  in  the  Christian 
race.  He  sets  that  before  the  Philippians  as  their 
pattern,  or  rather  invites  them  to  fellowship  with  him 
in  the  estimate  of  themselves  and  in  their  efforts  after 


V.  15]        THE  SOUL'S  PERFECTION         373 

higher  attainments.  *Be  thus  minded'  means,  Think 
as  I  do  of  yourselves,  and  do  as  I  do  in  your  daily  life. 

How  did  he  think  of  himself?  He  tells  us  in  the 
sentence  before, '  Not  as  though  I  were  already  perfect. 
I  count  not  myself  to  have  apprehended.'  So  then  a 
leading  characteristic  of  this  true  Christian  perfection 
is  a  constant  consciousness  of  imperfection.  In  all  fields 
of  effort,  whether  intellectual,  moral,  or  mechanical,  as 
faculty  grows,  consciousness  of  insufficiency  grows  with 
it.  The  farther  we  get  up  the  hill,  the  more  we  see  how 
far  it  is  to  the  horizon.  The  more  we  know,  the  more 
we  know  our  ignorance.  The  better  we  can  do,  the 
more  we  discern  how  much  we  cannot  do.  Only  people 
who  never  have  done  and  never  will  do  anything,  or 
else  raw  apprentices  with  the  mercifully  granted  self- 
confidence  of  youth,  which  gets  beaten  out  of  most  of 
us  soon  enough,  think  that  they  can  do  everything. 

In  morals  and  in  Christian  life  the  same  thing  is  true. 
The  measure  of  our  perfection  will  be  the  consciousness 
of  our  imperfection — a  paradox,  but  a  great  truth.  It 
is  plain  enough  that  it  will  be  so.  Conscience  becomes 
more  sensitive  as  we  get  nearer  right.  The  worse  a  man 
is  the  less  it  speaks  to  him,  and  the  less  he  hears  it. 
When  it  ought  to  thunder  it  whispers ;  when  we  need  it 
most  it  is  least  active.  The  thick  skin  of  a  savage  will 
not  be  disturbed  by  lying  on  sharp  stones,  while  a 
crumpled  rose-leaf  robs  the  Sybarite  of  his  sleep.  So 
the  practice  of  evil  hardens  the  cuticle  of  conscience, and 
the  practice  of  goodness  restores  tenderness  and  sensi- 
bility ;  and  many  a  man  laden  w^ith  crime  knows  less  of 
its  tingling  than  some  fair  soul  that  looks  almost  spotless 
to  all  eyes  but  its  own.  One  little  stain  of  rust  will  be 
conspicuous  on  a  brightly  polished  blade,  but  if  it  be  all 
dirty  and  dull,  a  dozen  more  or  fewer  will  make  little 


874  PHILIPPIANS  [oh.  in. 

difference.  As  men  grow  better  they  become  like  that 
glycerine  barometer  recently  introduced,  on  which  a  fall 
or  a  rise  that  would  have  been  invisible  with  mercury  to 
record  it  takes  up  inches,  and  is  glaringly  conspicuous. 
Good  people  sometimes  wonder,  and  sometimes  are 
made  doubtful  and  sad  about  themselves,  by  this  abid- 
ing and  even  increased  consciousness  of  sin.  There  is 
no  need  to  be  so.  The  higher  the  temperature  the  more 
chilling  would  it  be  to  pass  into  an  ice-house,  and  the 
more  our  lives  are  brought  into  fellowship  with  the 
perfect  life,  the  more  shall  we  feel  our  own  short- 
comings. Let  us  be  thankful  if  our  consciences  speak 
to  us  more  loudly  than  they  used  to  do.  It  is  a  sign  of 
growing  holiness,  as  the  tingling  in  a  frost-bitten  limb 
is  of  returning  life.  Let  us  seek  to  cultivate  and  in- 
crease the  sense  of  our  own  imperfection,  and  be  sure 
that  the  diminution  of  a  consciousness  of  sin  means 
not  diminished  power  of  sin,  but  lessened  horror  of  it, 
lessened  perception  of  right,  lessened  love  of  goodness, 
and  is  an  omen  of  death,  not  a  symptom  of  life.  Painter, 
scholar,  craftsman  all  know  that  the  condition  of  ad- 
vance is  the  recognition  of  an  ideal  not  attained. 
Whoever  has  not  before  him  a  standard  to  which  he 
has  not  reached  will  grow  no  more.  If  we  see  no 
faults  in  our  work  we  shall  never  do  any  better.  The 
condition  of  all  Christian,  as  of  all  other  progress,  is 
to  be  drawn  by  that  fair  vision  before  us,  and  to  be 
stung  into  renewed  effort  to  reach  it,  by  the  conscious- 
ness of  present  imperfection. 

Another  characteristic  to  which  these  perfect  men 
are  exhorted  is  a  constant  striving  after  a  further 
advance.  How  vigorously,  almost  vehemently,  that 
temper  is  put  in  the  context — '  I  follow  after ' ;  '  I  press 
toward  the  mark';  and  that   picturesque   'reaching 


V.15]        THE  SOUL'S  PERFECTION  875 

forth,'  or,  as  the  Revised  Version  gives  it,  '  stretching 
forward.'  The  full  force  of  the  latter  word  cannot  be 
given  in  any  one  English  equivalent,  but  may  be  clumsily 
hinted  by  some  such  phrase  as  '  stretching  oneself  out 
over,'  as  a  runner  might  do  with  body  thrown  forward 
and  arms  extended  in  front,  and  eagerness  in  every 
strained  muscle,  and  eye  outrunning  foot,  and  hope 
clutching  the  goal  already.  So  yearning  forward,  and 
setting  all  the  current  of  his  being,  both  faculty  and 
desire,  to  the  yet  unreached  mark,  the  Christian  man 
is  to  live.  His  glances  are  not  to  be  bent  backwards, 
but  forwards.  He  is  not  to  be  a  *  praiser  of  the  past,' 
but  a  herald  and  expectant  of  a  nobler  future.  He  is 
the  child  of  the  day  and  of  the  morning,  forgetting  the 
things  which  are  behind,  and  ever  yearning  towards 
the  things  which  are  before,  and  drawing  them  to  him- 
self. To  look  back  is  to  be  stiffened  into  a  living  death ; 
only  with  faces  set  forward  are  we  safe  and  well. 

This  buoyant  energy  of  hope  and  effort  is  to  be  the 
result  of  the  consciousness  of  imperfection  of  which  we 
have  spoken.  Strange  to  many  of  us,  in  some  moods, 
that  a  thing  so  bright  should  spring  up  from  a  thing  so 
dark,  and  that  the  more  we  feel  our  own  shortcomings, 
the  more  hopeful  should  we  be  of  a  future  unlike  the 
past,  and  the  more  earnest  in  our  effort  to  make  that 
future  the  present !  There  is  a  type  of  Christian  ex- 
perience not  uncommon  among  devout  people,  in  which 
the  consciousness  of  imperfection  paralyses  effort  in- 
stead of  quickening  it;  men  lament  their  evil,  their 
slow  progress  and  so  on,  and  remain  the  same  year 
after  year.  They  are  stirred  to  no  effort.  There  is  no 
straining  onwards.  They  almost  seem  to  lose  the  faith 
that  they  can  ever  be  any  better.  How  different  this 
from  the  grand,  wholesome  completeness   of   Paul's 


876  PHILIPPIANS  [ch.  in. 

view  here,  which  embraces  both  elements,  and  even 
draws  the  undying  brightness  of  his  forward-looking 
confidence  from  the  very  darkness  of  his  sense  of 
present  imperfection ! 

So  should  it  be  with  us,  *as  many  as  be  perfect.' 
Before  us  stretch  indefinite  possibilities  of  approxi- 
miating  to  the  unattainable  fulness  of  the  divine  life. 
We  may  grow  in  knowledge  and  in  holiness  through 
endless  ages  and  grades  of  advance.  In  a  most  blessed 
sense  we  may  have  that  for  our  highest  joy  which  in 
another  meaning  is  a  punishment  of  unfaithfulness 
and  indocility,  that  we  shall  be  •  ever  learning,  and 
never  coming  to  the  full  knowledge  of  the  truth.'  No 
limit  can  be  put  to  what  we  may  receive  of  God,  nor  to 
the  closeness,  the  fulness  of  our  communion  with  Him, 
nor  to  the  beauty  of  holiness  which  may  pass  from 
Him  into  our  poor  characters,  and  irradiate  our  homely 
faces.  Then,  brethren,  let  us  cherish  a  noble  dis- 
content with  all  that  we  at  present  are.  Let  our 
spirits  stretch  out  all  their  powers  to  the  better  things 
beyond,  as  the  plants  grown  in  darkness  will  send  out 
pale  shoots  that  feel  blindly  towards  the  light,  or  the 
seed  sown  on  the  top  of  a  rock  will  grope  down  the 
bare  stone  for  the  earth  by  which  it  must  be  fed.  Let 
the  sense  of  our  own  weakness  ever  lead  to  a  buoyant 
confidence  in  what  we,  even  we,  may  become  if  we  will 
only  take  the  grace  we  have.  To  this  touchstone  let 
us  bring  all  claims  to  higher  holiness — they  who  are 
perfect  are  most  conscious  of  imperfection,  and  most 
eager  in  their  efforts  after  a  further  progress  in  the 
knowledge,  love,  and  likeness  of  God  in  Christ. 

III.  We  have  here  also  distinctly  brought  out  the  co- 
existence with  these  characteristics  of  their  opposites. 

*  If  in  anything  ye  are  otherwise  minded,'  says  Paul. 


V.  15]        THE  SOUL'S  PERFECTION  377 

I  have  already  suggested  that  this  expression  evidently 
refers  not  to  difference  of  opinion  among  themselves, 
but  to  a  divergence  of  character  from  the  pattern  of 
feeling  and  life  which  he  has  been  proposing  to  them. 
If  in  any  respects  ye  are  unconscious  of  your  imper- 
fections, if  there  be  any  '  witch's  mark '  of  insensibility 
in  some  spot  of  your  conscience  to  some  plain  trans- 
gressions of  law,  if  in  any  of  you  there  be  some  com- 
placent illusion  of  your  own  stainlessness,  if  to  any 
of  you  the  bright  vision  before  you  seem  faint  and 
unsubstantial,  God  will  show  you  what  you  do  not 
see.  Plainly  then  he  considers  that  there  will  be  found 
among  these  perfect  men  states  of  feeling  and  estimates 
of  themselves  opposed  to  those  which  he  has  been 
exhorting  them  to  cherish.  Plainly  he  supposes  that 
a  good  man  may  pass  for  a  time  under  the  dominion 
of  impulses  and  theories  which  are  of  another  kind 
from  those  that  rule  his  life. 

He  does  not  expect  the  complete  and  uninterrupted 
dominion  of  these  higher  powers.  He  recognises  the 
plain  facts  that  the  true  self,  the  central  life  of  the 
soul,  the  higher  nature,  *  the  new  man,'  abides  in  a  self 
which  is  but  gradually  renewed,  and  that  there  is 
a  long  distance,  so  to  speak,  from  the  centre  to  the 
circumference.  That  higher  life  is  planted,  but  its 
germination  is  a  work  of  time.  The  leaven  does  not 
leaven  the  whole  mass  in  a  moment,  but  creeps  on 
from  particle  to  particle.  '  Make  the  tree  good '  and  in 
due  time  its  fruit  will  be  good.  But  the  conditions  of 
our  human  life  are  conflict,  and  these  peaceful  images 
of  growth  and  unimpeded  natural  development,  'first 
the  blade,  then  the  ear,  after  that  the  full  corn  in 
the  ear,'  are  not  meant  to  tell  all  the  truth.  Inter- 
ruptions   from    external    circumstances,  struggles  of 


378  PHILIPPIANS  [ch.  hi. 

flesh  with  spirit,  and  of  imagination  and  heart  and 
will  against  the  better  life  implanted  in  the  spirit,  are 
the  lot  of  all,  even  the  most  advanced  here,  and  how- 
ever a  man  may  be  perfect,  there  will  always  be  the 
possibility  that  in  something  he  may  be  'otherwise 
minded.' 

Such  an  admission  does  not  make  such  interruptions 
less  blameworthy  when  they  occur.  The  doctrine  of 
averages  does  not  do  away  with  the  voluntary  character 
of  each  single  act.  The  same  number  of  letters  are 
yearly  posted  without  addresses.  Does  anybody  dream 
of  not  scolding  the  errand  boy  who  posted  them,  or  the 
servant  who  did  not  address  them,  because  he  knows 
that?  We  are  quite  sure  that  we  could  have  resisted 
each  time  that  we  fell.  That  piece  of  sharp  practice  in 
business,  or  that  burst  of  bad  temper  in  the  household 
which  we  were  last  guilty  of — could  we  have  helped  it 
or  not?  Conscience  must  answer  that  question,  which 
does  not  depend  at  all  on  the  law  of  averages.  Guilt 
is  not  taken  away  by  asserting  that  sin  cleaves  to  men, 
•  perfect  men.' 

But  the  feelings  with  which  we  should  regard  sin 
and  contradictions  of  men's  truest  selves  in  ourselves 
and  others  should  be  so  far  altered  by  such  thoughts 
that  we  should  be  very  slow  to  pronounce  that  a  man 
cannot  be  a  Christian  because  he  has  done  so  and  so. 
Are  there  any  sins  which  are  clearly  incompatible  with 
a  Christian  character?  All  sins  are  inconsistent  with 
it,  but  that  is  a  very  different  matter.  The  uniform 
direction  of  a  man's  life  being  godless,  selfish,  devoted 
to  the  objects  and  pursuits  of  time  and  sense,  is  incom- 
patible with  his  being  a  Christian — but,  thank  God,  no 
single  act,  however  dark,  is  so,  if  it  be  in  contradiction 
to  the  main  tendency  impressed  upon  the  character 


V.  15]        THE  SOUL'S  PERFECTION  879 

and  conduct.  It  is  not  for  us  to  say  that  any  single 
deed  shows  a  man  cannot  be  Christ's,  nor  to  fling  our- 
selves down  in  despair  saying,  '  If  I  were  a  Christian, 
I  could  not  have  done  that.'  Let  us  remember  that 
'all  unrighteousness  is  sin,'  and  the  least  sin  is  in 
flagrant  opposition  to  our  Christian  profession;  but 
let  us  also  remember,  and  that  not  to  blunt  our  con- 
sciences or  weaken  our  efforts,  that  Paul  thought  it 
possible  for  perfect  men  to  be  '  otherwise  minded '  from 
their  deepest  selves  and  their  highest  pattern. 

IV.  The  crowning  hope  that  lies  in  these  words  is 
the  certainty  of  a  gradual  but  complete  attainment  of 
all  the  Christian  aspirations  after  God  and  goodness. 

The  ground  of  that  confidence  lies  in  no  natural 
tendencies  in  us,  in  no  effort  of  ours,  but  solely  in  that 
great  name  which  is  the  anchor  of  all  our  confidence, 
the  name  of  God.  Why  is  Paul  certain  that '  God  will 
reveal  even  this  unto  you '  ?  Because  He  is  God.  The 
Apostle  has  learned  the  infinite  depth  of  meaning  that 
lies  in  that  name.  He  has  learned  that  God  is  not  in 
the  way  of  leaving  off  His  work  before  He  has  done 
His  work,  and  that  none  can  say  of  Him,  that  'He 
began  to  build,  and  was  not  able  to  finish.'  The  as- 
surances of  an  unchangeable  purpose  in  redemption, 
and  of  inexhaustible  resources  to  effect  it ;  of  a  love 
that  can  never  fade,  and  of  a  grace  that  can  never  be 
exhausted — are  all  treasured  for  us  in  that  mighty 
name.  And  such  confidence  is  confirmed  by  the  mani- 
fest tendency  of  the  principles  and  motives  brought 
to  bear  on  us  in  Christianity  to  lead  on  to  a  condition 
of  absolute  perfection,  as  well  as  by  the  experience 
which  we  may  have,  if  we  will,  of  the  sanctifying  and 
renewing  power  of  His  Spirit  in  our  Spirit. 

By  the  discipline  of  daily  life,  by  the  ministry  of  sorrow 


380  PHILIPPIANS  [ch.  hi. 

and  joy,  by  merciful  chastisements  dogging  our  steps 
when  we  stray,  by  duties  and  cares,  by  the  teaching 
of  His  word  coming  even  closer  to  our  hearts  and 
quickening  our  consciences  to  discern  evil  where  we 
had  seen  none,  as  well  as  kindling  in  us  desires  after 
higher  and  rarer  goodness,  by  the  reward  of  enlarged 
perceptions  of  duty  and  greater  love  towards  it,  with 
which  He  recompenses  lowly  obedience  to  the  duty  as 
yet  seen,  by  the  secret  influences  of  His  Spirit  of  Power 
and  of  Love  and  of  a  sound  Mind  breathed  into  our 
waiting  spirits,  by  the  touch  of  His  own  sustaining 
hand  and  glance  of  His  own  guiding  eye,  He  will  reveal 
to  the  lowly  soul  all  that  is  yet  wanting  in  its  knowledge, 
and  communicate  all  that  is  lacking  in  character. 

So  for  us,  the  true  temper  is  confidence  in  His  power 
and  will,  an  earnest  waiting  on  Him,  a  brave  forward 
yearning  hope  blended  with  a  lowly  consciousness  of 
imperfection,  Tvhich  is  a  spur  not  a  clog,  and  vigorous 
increasing  efforts  to  bring  into  life  and  character  the 
fulness  and  beauty  of  God.  Presumption  should  be  as 
far  from  us  as  despair — the  one  because  we  have  not 
already  attained,  the  other  because  '  God  will  reveal 
even  this  unto  us.'  Only  let  us  keep  in  mind  the  caution 
which  the  Apostle,  knowing  the  possible  abuses  which 
might  gather  round  His  teaching,  has  here  attached 
to  it,  '  Nevertheless ' — though  all  which  I  have  been 
saying  is  true,  it  is  only  on  this  understanding — 
'Whereto  we  have  already  attained,  by  the  same  let 
us  walk.'  God  will  perfect  that  which  concerneth  you 
if — and  only  if — you  go  on  as  you  have  begun,  if  you 
make  your  creed  a  life,  if  you  show  what  you  are.  If 
so,  then  all  the  rest  is  a  question  of  time.  A  has  been 
said,  and  Z  will  come  in  its  proper  place.  Begin  with 
humble  trust  in  Christ,  and  a  process  is  commenced 


V.  15]       THE  RULE  OF  THE  ROAD          381 

which  has  no  natural  end  short  of  that  great  hope 
with  which  this  chapter  closes,  that  the  change  which 
begins  in  the  deepest  recesses  of  our  being,  and  struggles 
slowly  and  with  many  interruptions,  into  partial 
visibility  in  our  character,  shall  one  day  triumphantly 
irradiate  our  whole  nature  out  to  the  very  finger-tips, 
and  '  even  the  body  of  our  humiliation  shall  be  fashioned 
like  unto  the  body  of  Christ's  glory,  according  to  the 
working  whereby  He  is  able  even  to  subdue  all  things 
to  Himself.* 


THE  RULE  OF  THE  ROAD 

'Nevertheless,  whereto  we  have  already  attained,  let  us  walk  by  the  same 
rale.'— Phil.  iii.  16. 

Paul  has  just  been  laying  down  a  great  principle — 
viz.  that  if  the  main  direction  of  a  life  be  right,  God 
will  reveal  to  a  man  the  points  in  which  he  is  wrong. 
But  that  principle  is  untrue  and  dangerous,  unless 
carefully  guarded.  It  may  lead  to  a  lazy  tolerance  of 
evil,  and  to  drawing  such  inferences  as,  '  Well !  it  does 
not  much  matter  about  strenuous  effort,  if  we  are 
right  at  bottom  it  will  all  come  right  by-and-by,'  and 
so  it  may  become  a  pillow  for  indolence  and  a  clog  on 
effort.  This  possible  abuse  of  a  great  truth  seems  to 
strike  the  Apostle,  and  so  he  enters  here,  with  this 
'  Nevertheless,'  a  caveat  against  that  twist  of  his  mean- 
ing. It  is  as  if  he  said,  '  Now  mind !  while  all  that  is 
perfectly  true,  it  is  true  on  conditions ;  and  if  they  be 
not  attended  to,  it  is  not  true.'  God  will  reveal  to  a 
man  the  things  in  which  he  is  wrong  if,  and  only  if,  he 
steadfastly  continues  in  the  course  which  he  knows 
and  sees  to  be  right.     Present  attainments,  then,  are 


382  PHILIPPIANS  [ch.  in. 

in  some  sense  a  standard  of  duty,  and  if  we  honestly 
and  conscientiously  observe  that  standard  we  shall 
get  light  as  we  journey.  In  this  exhortation  of  the 
Apostle's  there  are  many  exhortations  wrapped  up; 
and  in  trying  to  draw  them  out  I  venture  to  adhere  to 
the  form  of  exhortation  for  the  sake  of  impressiveness 
and  point. 

I.  First,  then,  I  would  say  the  Apostle  means,  '  Live 
up  to  your  faith  and  your  convictions.* 

It  may  be  a  question  whether  'that  to  which  we 
have  already  attained'  means  the  amount  of  know- 
ledge which  we  have  won  or  the  amount  of  practical 
righteousness  which  we  have  made  our  own.  But  I 
think  that,  instead  of  sharply  dividing  between  these 
two,  we  shall  follow  more  in  the  course  of  the  Apostle's 
thought  if  we  unite  them  together,  and  remember  that 
the  Bible  does  not  make  the  distinct  separation  which 
we  sometimes  incline  to  make  between  knowledge  on 
the  one  side  and  practice  on  the  other,  but  regards  the 
man  as  a  living  unity.  And  thus,  both  aspects  of  our 
attainments  come  into  consideration  here. 

So,  then,  there  are  two  main  thoughts — first,  live  out 
your  creed,  and  second,  live  up  to  your  convictions. 

Live  out  your  creed.  Men  are  meant  to  live,  not  by 
impulse,  by  accident,  by  inclination,  but  by  principle. 
We  are  not  intended  to  live  by  rule,  but  we  are  in- 
tended to  live  by  law.  And  unless  we  know  why  we  do 
as  well  as  what  we  do,  and  give  a  rational  account  of 
our  conduct,  we  fall  beneath  the  height  on  which  God 
intends  us  to  walk.  Impulse  is  all  very  well,  but 
impulse  is  blind  and  needs  a  guide.  The  imitation  of 
those  around  us,  or  the  acceptance  of  the  apparent 
necessities  of  circumstances,  are,  to  some  extent,  in- 
evitable and  right.     But  to  be  driven  merely  by  the 


T.  16]       THE  RULE  OF  THE  ROAD         888 

force  of  externals  is  to  surrender  the  highest  preroga- 
tive of  manhood.  The  highest  part  of  human  nature 
is  the  reason  guided  by  conscience,  and  a  man's  con- 
science is  only  then  rightly  illuminated  when  it  is 
illuminated  by  his  creed,  which  is  founded  on  the  accept- 
ance of  the  revelation  that  God  has  made  of  Himself. 

And  whilst  we  are  clearly  meant  to  be  guided  by  the 
intelligent  appropriation  of  Grod's  truth,  that  truth  is 
evidently  all  meant  for  guidance.  We  are  not  told 
anything  in  the  Bible  in  order  that  we  may  know  as 
an  ultimate  object,  but  we  are  told  it  all  in  order  that, 
knowing,  we  may  be,  and,  being,  we  may  do,  according 
to  His  will. 

Just  think  of  the  intensely  practical  tendency  of  all 
the  greatest  truths  of  Christianity.  The  Cross  is  the 
law  of  life.  The  revelation  that  was  made  there  was 
made,  not  merely  that  we  might  cling  to  it  as  a  refuge 
from  our  sins,  but  that  we  might  accept  it  as  the  rule 
of  our  conduct.  All  our  duties  to  mankind  are  summed 
up  in  the  word  'Love  one  another  as  I  have  loved  you.' 
We  say  that  we  believe  in  the  divinity  of  Christ ;  we 
say  that  we  believe  in  the  great  incarnation  and  sacri- 
ficial death  and  eternal  priesthood  of  the  loving  Son  of 
God.  We  say  that  we  believe  in  a  judgment  to  come 
and  a  future  life.  Well,  then,  do  these  truths  produce 
any  effect  upon  my  life  ?  have  they  shaped  me  in  any 
measure  into  conformity  with  their  great  principles  ? 
Does  there  issue  from  them  constraining  power  which 
grasps  me  and  moulds  me  as  a  sculptor  would  a  bit  of 
clay  in  his  hands  ?  Am  I  subject  to  the  Gospel's 
authority,  and  is  the  word  in  which  God  has  revealed 
Himself  to  me  the  word  which  dominates  and  impels 
all  my  life  ?  *  Whereunto  we  have  already  attained, 
by  the  same  let  us  walk.' 


384  PHILIPPIANS  [oh.iil 

But  we  shall  not  do  that  without  a  distinct  effort. 
For  it  is  a  great  deal  easier  to  live  from  hand  to  mouth 
than  to  live  by  principle.  It  is  a  great  deal  easier  to 
accept  what  seems  forced  upon  us  by  circumstances 
than  to  exercise  control  over  the  circumstances,  and 
make  them  bend  to  God's  holy  will.  It  is  a  great  deal 
easier  to  take  counsel  of  inclination,  and  to  put  the 
reins  in  the  hands  of  impulses,  passions,  desires,  tastes, 
or  even  habits,  than  it  is,  at  each  fresh  moment,  to 
seek  for  fresh  impulses  from  a  fresh  illumination  from 
the  ancient  and  yet  ever  fresh  truth.  The  old  kings 
of  France  used  to  be  kept  with  all  royal  state  in  the 
palace,  but  they  were  not  allowed  to  do  anything. 
And  there  was  a  rough,  unworshipped  man  that  stood 
by  their  side,  and  who  was  the  real  ruler  of  the  realm. 
That  is  what  a  great  many  professing  Christians  do 
with  their  creeds.  They  instal  them  in  some  inner 
chamber  that  they  very  seldom  visit,  and  leave  them 
there,  in  dignified  idleness,  and  the  real  working  ruler 
of  their  lives  is  found  elsewhere.  Let  us  see  to  it, 
brethren,  that  all  our  thoughts  are  incarnated  in  our 
deeds,  and  that  all  our  deeds  are  brought  into  imme- 
diate connection  with  the  great  principles  of  God's 
word.     Live  by  that  law,  and  we  live  at  liberty. 

And,  then,  remember  that  this  translating  of  creed 
into  conduct  is  the  only  condition  of  growing  illumina- 
tion. When  we  act  upon  a  belief,  the  belief  grows. 
That  is  the  source  of  a  great  deal  of  stupid  obstinacy  in 
this  world,  because  men  have  been  so  long  accustomed 
to  go  upon  certain  principles  that  it  seems  incredible 
to  them  but  that  these  principles  should  be  true.  But 
that,  too,  is  at  the  bottom  of  a  great  deal  of  intelligent 
and  noble  firmness  of  adherence  to  the  true.  A 
man   who    has    tested    a    principle    because    he    has 


V.16]       THE  RULE  OF  THE  ROAD  385 

lived  upon  it  has  confidence  in  it  that  nobody  else 
can  have. 

Projectors  may  have  beautiful  specifications  with 
attractive  pictures  of  their  new  inventions ;  they  look 
very  well  upon  paper,  but  we  must  see  them  working 
before  we  are  sure  of  their  worth.  And  so,  here  is  this 
great  body  of  Divine  truth,  which  assumes  to  be  sufii- 
cient  for  guidance,  for  conduct,  for  comfort,  for  life. 
Live  upon  it,  and  thereby  your  grasp  of  it  and  your 
confidence  in  it  will  be  immensely  increased.  And  no 
man  has  a  right  to  say  '  I  have  rejected  Christianity 
as  untrue,'  unless  he  has  put  it  to  the  test  by  living 
upon  it ;  and  if  he  has,  he  will  never  say  it.  A  Swiss 
traveller  goes  into  a  shop  and  buys  a  brand-new  alpen- 
stock. Does  he  lean  upon  it  with  as  much  confidence 
as  another  man  does,  who  has  one  with  the  names  of 
all  the  mountains  that  it  has  helped  him  up  branded 
on  it  from  top  to  bottom  ?  Take  this  staff  and  lean  on 
it.  Live  your  creed,  and  you  will  believe  your  creed  as 
you  never  will  until  you  do.  Obedience  takes  a  man 
up  to  an  elevation  from  which  he  sees  further  into  the 
deep  harmonies  of  truth.  In  all  regions  of  life  the 
principle  holds  good:  'To  him  that  hath  shall  be 
given.'  And  it  holds  eminently  in  reference  to  our 
grasp  of  Christian  principles.  Use  them  and  they 
grow ;  neglect  them  and  they  perish.  Sometimes  a 
man  dies  in  a  workhouse  who  has  a  store  of  guineas 
and  notes  wrapped  up  in  rags  somewhere  about  him  ; 
and  so  they  have  been  of  no  use  to  him.  If  you  want 
your  capital  to  increase,  trade  with  it.  As  the  Lord 
said  when  He  gave  the  servants  their  talents  :  *  Trade 
with  them  till  I  come.'  The  creed  that  is  utilised  is  the 
creed  that  grows.  And  that  is  why  so  many  of  you 
Christian  people  have  so  little  real  intellectual  grasp 

2b 


386  PHILIPPI ANS  [ch.  m. 

of  the  principles  of  Christianity,  because  you  have  not 
lived  upon  them,  nor  tried  to  do  it. 

And,  in  like  manner,  another  side  of  this  thought  is, 
be  true  to  your  convictions.  There  is  no  such  barrier 
to  a  larger  and  wholesomer  view  of  our  duty  as  the 
neglect  of  anything  that  plainly  is  our  duty.  It  stands 
there,  an  impassable  cliff  between  us  and  all  progress. 
Let  us  live  and  be  what  we  know  we  ought  to  be,  and 
we  shall  know  better  what  we  ought  to  be  at  the  next 
moment. 

II.  Secondly,  let  me  put  the  Apostle's  meaning  in 
another  exhortation,  Go  on  as  you  have  begun. 

*  Whereunto  we  have  already  attained,  by  the  same 
let  us  walk.'  The  various  points  to  which  the  men 
have  reached  are  all  points  in  one  straight  line;  and 
the  injunction  of  my  text  is 'Keep  the  road.'  There 
are  a  great  many  temptations  to  stray  from  it.  There 
are  nice  smooth  grassy  bits  by  the  side  of  it  where  it 
is  a  great  deal  easier  walking.  There  are  attractive 
things  just  a  footstep  or  two  out  of  the  path — such  a 
little  deviation  that  it  can  easily  be  recovered.  And 
so,  like  children  gathering  daisies  in  the  field,  we  stray 
away  from  the  path;  and,  like  men  on  a  moor,  we 
then  look  round  for  it,  and  it  is  gone.  The  angle  of 
divergence  may  be  the  acutest  possible ;  the  deviation 
when  we  begin  may  be  scarcely  visible,  but  if  you  draw 
a  line  at  the  sharpest  angle  and  the  least  deviation 
from  a  straight  line,  and  carry  it  out  far  enough,  there 
will  be  space  between  it  and  the  line  from  which  it 
started  ample  to  hold  a  universe.  Then,  let  us  take 
care  of  small  deviations  from  the  plain  straight  path, 
and  give  no  heed  to  the  seductions  that  lie  on  either 
side,  but  *  whereunto  we  have  already  attained,  by  the 
§ame  let  iis  wal]c/ 


f.  16]       THE  RULE  OF  THE  ROAD         887 

There  are  temptations,  too,  to  slacken  our  speed. 
The  river  runs  far  more  slowly  in  its  latter  course  than 
when  it  came  babbling  and  leaping  down  the  hillside. 
And  sometimes  a  Christian  life  seems  as  if  it  crept 
rather  than  ran,  like  those  sluggish  streams  in  the  Fen 
country,  which  move  so  slowly  that  you  cannot  tell 
which  way  the  water  is  flowing.  Are  not  there  all 
round  us,  are  there  not  amongst  ourselves  instances 
of  checked  growth,  of  arrested  development?  There 
are  people  listening  to  me  now,  calling  themselves 
— and  I  do  not  say  that  they  have  not  a  right  to  do 
so — Christians,  who  have  not  grown  a  bit  for  years, 
but  stand  at  the  very  same  point  of  attainment,  both 
in  knowledge  and  in  purity  and  Christlikeness,  as  they 
were  n^any,  many  days  ago.  I  beseech  you,  listen  to 
this  exhortation  of  my  text,  *  Whereunto  we  have 
already  attained,  by  the  same  let  us  walk,'  and  con- 
tinue patient  and  persistent  in  the  course  that  is  set 
before  us. 

III.  The  Apostle's  injunction  may  be  cast  into  this 
form.  Be  yourselves. 

The  representation  which  underlies  my  text,  and 
precedes  it  in  the  context,  is  that  of  the  Christian  com- 
munity as  a  great  body  of  travellers  all  upon  one  road, 
all  with  their  faces  turned  in  one  direction,  but  at  very 
different  points  on  the  path.  The  difference  of  position 
necessarily  involves  a  difference  in  outlook.  They  see 
their  duties,  and  they  see  the  Word  of  God,  in  some 
respects  diversely.  And  the  Apostle's  exhortation  is: 
'  Let  each  man  follow  his  own  insight,  and  whereunto 
he  has  attained,  by  that,  and  not  by  his  brother's 
attainment,  by  that  let  him  walk.'  From  the  very 
fact  of  the  diversity  of  advancement  there  follows  the 
plain  duty  for  each  of  us  to  use  our  pwn  eyesight,  aii4 


388  PHILIPPI ANS  [ch.  iii. 

of  independent  faithfulness  to  our  own  measure  of 
light,  as  the  guide  which  we  are  bound  to  follow. 

There  is  a  dreadful  want,  in  the  ordinary  Christian 
life,  of  any  appearance  of  first-hand  communication 
with  Jesus  Christ,  and  daring  to  be  myself,  and  to  act 
on  the  insight  into  His  will  which  Christ  has  given  me. 

Conventional  Godliness,  Christian  people  cut  after 
one  pattern,  a  little  narrow  round  of  certain  statutory 
duties  and  obligations,  a  parrot-like  repetition  of  cer- 
tain words,  a  mechanical  copying  of  certain  methods 
of  life,  an  oppressive  sameness,  mark  so  much  of 
modern  religion.  What  a  freshening  up  there  would 
come  into  all  Christian  communities  if  every  man 
lived  by  his  own  perception  of  truth  and  duty !  If  a 
musician  in  an  orchestra  is  listening  to  his  neighbour's 
note  and  time,  he  will  lose  many  an  indication  from 
the  conductor  that  would  have  kept  him  far  more 
right,  if  he  had  attended  to  it.  And  if,  instead  of 
taking  our  beliefs  and  our  conduct  from  one  another, 
or  from  the  average  of  Christian  men  round  us,  we 
went  straight  to  Jesus  Christ  and  said  to  Him,  '  What 
wouldst  Thou  have  me  to  do  ? '  there  would  be  a 
different  aspect  over  Christendom  from  what  there  is 
to-day.  The  fact  of  individual  responsibility,  accord- 
ing to  the  measure  of  our  individual  light,  and  faithful 
following  of  that,  wheresoever  it  may  lead  us,  are  the 
grand  and  stirring  principles  that  come  from  these 
words.  *  Whereunto  we  have  already  attained,'  by  that 
— and  by  no  other  man's  attainment  or  rule — let  us  walk. 

But  do  not  let  us  forget  that  that  same  faithful 
independence  and  independent  faithfulness  because 
Christ  speaks  to  us,  and  we  will  not  let  any  other 
voice  blend  with  His,  are  quite  consistent  with,  and, 
indeed,  demand,  the  frank  recognition  of  our  brother's 


V.  16]       THE  RULE  OF  THE  ROAD         889 

equal  right.  If  we  more  often  thought  of  all  the  great 
body  of  Christian  people  as  an  army,  united  in  its 
diversity,  its  line  of  march  stretching  for  leagues,  and 
some  in  the  van,  and  some  in  the  main  body,  and  some 
in  the  rear,  but  all  one,  we  should  be  more  tolerant  of 
divergences,  more  charitable  in  our  judgment  of  the 
laggards,  more  patient  in  waiting  for  them  to  come  up 
with  us,  and  more  wise  and  considerate  in  moderating 
our  pace  sometimes  to  meet  theirs.  All  who  love  Jesus 
Christ  are  on  the  same  road  and  bound  for  the  same 
home.  Let  us  be  contented  that  they  shall  be  at 
different  stages  on  the  path,  seeing  that  we  know  that 
they  will  all  reach  the  Temple  above. 

IV.  Lastly,  cherish  the  consciousness  of  imperfection 
and  the  confidence  of  success. 

'  Whereunto  we  have  attained  *  implies  that  that  is 
only  a  partial  possession  of  a  far  greater  whole.  The 
road  is  not  finished  at  the  stage  where  we  stand.  And, 
on  the  other  hand,  *  by  the  same  let  us  walk,'  implies 
that  beyond  the  present  point  the  road  runs  on  equally 
patent  and  pervious  to  our  feet.  These  two  convic- 
tions, of  my  own  imperfection  and  of  the  certainty  of 
my  reaching  the  great  perfectness  beyond,  are  indis- 
pensable to  all  Christian  progress.  As  soon  as  a  man 
begins  to  think  that  he  has  realised  his  ideal.  Good- 
bye !  to  all  advance.  The  artist,  the  student,  the  man 
of  business,  all  must  have  gleaming  before  them  an 
unattained  object,  if  they  are  ever  to  be  stirred  to 
energy  and  to  run  with  patience  the  race  that  is  set 
before  them. 

The  more  distinctly  that  a  man  is  conscious  of  his 
own  imperfection  in  the  Christian  life,  the  more  he 
will  be  stung  and  stirred  into  earnestness  and  energy 
of  effort,  if  only,  side  by  side  with  the  consciousness  of 


890  PHILIPPI ANS  [CH.  iii. 

imperfection,  there  springs  triumphant  the  confidence 
of  success.  That  will  give  strength  to  the  feeble 
knees;  that  will  lift  a  man  buoyant  over  difficulties; 
that  will  fire  desire;  that  will  stimulate  and  solidify 
effort ;  that  will  make  the  long,  monotonous  stretches 
of  the  road  easy,  the  rough  places  plain,  the  crooked 
things  straight.  Over  all  reluctant,  repellent  duties  it 
will  bear  us,  in  all  weariness  it  will  re-invigorate  us. 
We  are  saved  by  hope,  and  the  more  brightly  there 
burns  before  us,  not  as  a  tremulous  hope,  but  as  a 
future  certainty,  the  thought, '  I  shall  be  like  Him,  for 
I  shall  see  Him  as  He  is,'  the  more  shall  I  set  my  face 
to  the  loved  goal  and  my  feet  to  the  dusty  road,  and 
*  press  toward  the  mark  for  the  prize  of  the  high  calling 
of  God.'  Christian  progress  comes  out  of  the  clash  and 
collision  of  these  two  things,  like  that  of  flint  and  steel 
— the  consciousness  of  imperfection  and  the  confidence 
of  success.  And  they  who  thus  are  driven  by  the  one 
and  drawn  by  the  other,  in  all  their  consciousness  of 
failure  are  yet  blessed,  and  are  crowned  at  last  with 
that  which  they  believed  before  it  came. 

•Blessed  are  they  that  dwell  in  Thy  house* — the 
prize  won  is  heaven.  But  '  blessed  are  they  in  whose 
hearts  are  the  ways' — the  prize  desired  and  strained 
after  is  heaven  upon  earth.  We  may  all  live  a  life  of 
continual  advancement,  each  step  leading  upwards,  for 
the  road  always  climbs,  to  purer  air,  grander  scenery, 
and  a  wider  view.  And  yonder,  progress  will  still  be 
the  law,  for  they  who  here  have  followed  the  Lamb,  and 
sought  to  make  Him  their  pattern  and  Commander, 
will  there  'follow  Him  whithersoever  He  goeth.'  If 
here  we  walk  according  to  that  '  whereunto  we  have 
attained,'  there  He  shall  say,  •  They  will  walk  with  Me 
in  white,  for  they  are  worthy.' 


WARNINGS  AND  HOPES 

'  Brethren,  be  ye  imitators  together  of  me,  and  mark  them  which  so  walk  even  aa 
ye  have  us  for  an  ensample.  For  many  walk,  of  whom  I  told  you  often,  and  now 
tell  you  even  weeping,  that  they  are  the  enemies  of  the  cross  of  Christ :  whose 
end  is  perdition,  whose  God  is  the  belly,  and  whose  glory  is  in  their  shame,  who 
mind  earthly  things.  For  our  citizenship  is  in  heaven ;  from  whence  also  we 
wait  for  a  Saviour,  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ :  who  shall  fashion  anew  the  body  of 
our  humiliation,  that  it  may  be  conformed  to  the  body  of  His  glory,  according  to 
the  working  whereby  he  is  able  even  to  subject  all  things  unto  Himself.'— Phil. 
ill.  17-21  (R.V.). 

There  is  a  remarkable  contrast  in  tone  between  the 
sad  warnings  which  begin  this  section  and  the  glowing 
hopes  with  which  it  closes,  and  that  contrast  is  made 
the  more  striking  when  we  notice  that  the  Apostle 
binds  the  gloom  of  the  one  and  the  radiance  of  the 
other  by  '  For,'  which  makes  the  latter  the  cause  of  the 
former. 

The  exhortation  in  which  the  Apostle  begins  by  pro- 
posing himself  as  an  example  sounds  strange  on  any 
lips,  and,  most  of  ail,  on  his,  but  we  have  to  note  that 
the  points  in  which  he  sets  himself  up  as  a  pattern  are 
obviously  those  on  which  he  touched  in  the  preceding 
outpouring  of  his  heart,  and  which  he  has  already 
commended  to  the  Philippians  in  pleading  with  them 
to  be  *  thus  minded.'  What  he  desires  them  to  copy  is 
his  self-distrust,  his  willingness  to  sacrifice  all  things 
to  win  Christ,  his  clear  sense  of  his  own  shortcomings, 
and  his  eager  straining  towards  as  yet  unreached  per- 
fection. His  humility  is  not  disproved  by  such  words, 
but  what  is  remarkable  in  them  is  the  clear  conscious- 
ness of  the  main  direction  and  set  of  his  life.  We  may 
well  hesitate  to  take  them  for  ours,  but  every  Christian 
man  and  woman  ought  to  be  able  to  say  this  much. 
If  we  cannot  in  some  degree  declare  that  we  are  so 
walking,  we  have  need  to  look  to  our  foundations. 

Such  words  are  really  in  sharp  contrast  to  those  in 

m 


392  PHILIPPIANS  [ch.iii. 

which  Jesus  is  held  forth  as  an  example.  Notice,  too, 
how  quickly  he  passes  to  associate  others  with  him, 
and  to  merge  the  *Me'  into  *Us.*  We  need  not  ask 
who  his  companions  were,  since  Timothy  is  associated 
with  him  at  the  beginning  of  the  letter. 

The  exhortation  is  enforced  by  pointing  to  others 
who  had  gone  far  astray,  and  of  whom  he  had  warned 
the  Philippians  often,  possibly  by  letter.  Who  these 
unworthy  disciples  were  remains  obscure.  They 
were  clearly  not  the  Judaisers  branded  in  verse  2, 
who  were  teachers  seeking  to  draw  away  the  Philip- 
pians, while  these  others  seem  to  have  been  *  enemies 
of  the  Cross  of  Christ,'  not  by  open  hostility  nor  by 
theoretical  errors,  but  by  practical  worldliness,  and 
that  in  these  ways ;  they  make  sense  their  God,  they 
are  proud  of  what  is  really  their  disgrace,  namely,  they 
are  shaking  off  the  restraints  of  morality;  and,  most 
black  though  it  may  seem  least  so,  they  *  mind  earthly 
things '  on  which  thought,  feeling,  and  interest  are  con- 
centrated. Let  us  lay  to  heart  the  lesson  that  such 
direction  of  the  current  of  a  life  to  the  things  of  earth 
makes  men  *  enemies  of  the  Cross  of  Christ,'  whatever 
their  professions,  and  will  surely  make  their  end  per- 
dition, whatever  their  apparent  prosperity.  Paul's  life 
seemed  loss  and  was  gain;  these  men's  lives  seemed 
gain  and  was  loss. 

From  this  dark  picture  charged  with  gloom,  and  in 
one  corner  showing  white  waves  breaking  far  out 
against  an  inky  sky,  and  a  vessel  with  torn  sails 
driving  on  the  rocks,  the  Apostle  turns  with  relief  to 
the  brighter  words  in  which  he  sets  forth  the  true 
affinities  and  hopes  of  a  Christian.  They  all  stand  or 
fall  with  the  belief  in  the  Resurrection  of  Christ  and 
His  present  life  in  His  glorified  corporeal  manhood. 


vs.  17-21]    WARNINGS  AND  HOPES  393 

I.  Our  true  metropolis. 

The  Revised  Version  puts  in  the  margin  as  an  alter- 
native rendering  for  '  citizenship '  commonwealth,  and 
there  appears  to  be  a  renewed  allusion  here  to  the  fact 
already  noted  that  Philippi  was  a  '  colony,'  and  that  its 
inhabitants  were  Roman  citizens.  Paul  uses  a  very 
emphatic  word  for  'is'  here  which  it  is  difficult  to 
reproduce  in  English,  but  which  suggests  essential 
reality. 

The  reason  why  that  heavenly  citizenship  is  ours  in 
no  mere  play  of  the  imagination  but  in  most  solid  sub- 
stance, is  because  He  is  there  for  whom  we  look. 
Where  Christ  is,  is  our  Mother-country,  our  Father- 
land, according  to  His  own  promise,  *I  go  to  prepare 
a  place  for  you.'  His  being  there  draws  our  thoughts 
and  sets  our  affections  on  Heaven. 

II.  The  colonists  looking  for  the  King. 

The  Emperors  sometimes  made  a  tour  of  the  pro- 
vinces. Paul  here  thinks  of  Christians  as  waiting  for 
their  Emperor  to  come  across  the  seas  to  this  outlying 
corner  of  His  dominions.  The  whole  grand  name  is 
given  here,  all  the  royal  titles  to  express  solemnity 
and  dignity,  and  the  character  in  which  we  look 
for  Him  is  that  of  Saviour.  We  still  need  salvation, 
and  though  in  one  sense  it  is  past,  in  another  it  will 
not  be  ours  until  He  comes  the  second  time  without  sin 
unto  salvation.  The  eagerness  of  the  waiting  which 
should  characterise  the  expectant  citizens  is  wonder- 
fully described  by  the  Apostle's  expression  for  it,  which 
literally  means  to  look  away  out — with  emphasis  on 
both  prepositions — like  a  sentry  on  the  walls  of  a 
besieged  city  whose  eyes  are  ever  fixed  on  the  pass 
amongst  the  hills  through  which  the  relieving  forces 
are  to  come. 


894  PHILIPPIANS  [oh.  m. 

It  may  be  said  that  Paul  is  here  expressing  an 
expectation  which  was  disappointed.  No  doubt  the 
early  Church  looked  for  the  speedy  return  of  our  Lord 
and  were  mistaken.  We  are  distinctly  told  that  in 
that  point  there  was  no  revelation  of  the  future,  and 
no  doubt  they,  like  the  prophetd  of  old,  '  searched  what 
manner  of  time  the  spirit  of  Christ  which  was  in  them 
did  signify.'  In  this  very  letter  Paul  speaks  of  death 
as  very  probable  for  himself,  so  that  he  had  precisely 
the  same  double  attitude  which  has  been  the  Church's 
ever  since,  in  that  he  looked  for  Christ's  coming  as 
possible  in  his  own  time,  and  yet  anticipated  the  other 
alternative.  It  is  difficult,  no  doubt,  to  cherish  the 
vivid  anticipation  of  any  future  event,  and  not  to  have 
any  certainty  as  to  its  date.  But  if  we  are  sure  that 
a  given  event  will  come  sometime  and  do  not  know 
when  it  may  come,  surely  the  wise  man  is  he  who 
thinks  to  himself  it  may  come  any  time,  and  not  he 
who  treats  it  as  if  it  would  come  at  no  time.  The  two 
possible  alternatives  which  Paul  had  before  him  have 
in  common  the  same  certainty  as  to  the  fact  and  un- 
certainty as  to  the  date,  and  Paul  had  them  both 
before  his  mind  with  the  same  vivid  anticipation. 

The  practical  effect  of  this  hope  of  the  returning 
Lord  on  our  '  walk '  will  be  all  to  bring  it  nearer  Paul's. 
It  will  not  suffer  us  to  make  sense  our  God,  nor  to  fix 
our  affections  on  things  above;  it  will  stimulate  all 
energies  in  pressing  towards  the  goal,  and  will  turn 
away  our  eyes  from  the  trivialities  and  transiencies 
that  press  upon  us,  away  out  toward  the  distance  where 
•  far  off  His  coming  shone.' 

III.  The  Christian  sharing  in  Christ  b  glory. 

The  same  precise  distinction  between  '  fashion  *  and 
•form,'   which   we   have   had   occasion  to  notice   in 


Ts.  17-21]   WARNINGS  AND  HOPES  895 

Chapter  ii.,  recurs  here.  The  '  fashion'  of  the  body  of 
our  humiliation  is  external  and  transient ;  the  '  form ' 
of  the  body  of  His  glory  to  which  we  are  to  be  assimi- 
lated consists  of  essential  characteristics  or  properties, 
and  may  be  regarded  as  being  almost  synonymous  with 
'  Nature.'  Observing  the  distinction  which  the  Apostle 
draws  by  the  use  of  these  two  words,  and  remembering 
their  force  in  the  former  instance  of  their  occurrence, 
we  shall  not  fail  to  give  force  to  the  representation  that 
in  the  Resurrection  the  fleeting  fashion  of  the  bodily 
frame  will  be  altered,  and  the  glorified  bodies  of  the 
saints  made  participant  of  the  essential  qualities  of  His. 

We  further  note  that  there  is  no  trace  of  false 
asceticism  or  of  gnostic  contempt  for  the  body  in  its 
designation  as  *of  our  humiliation.'  Its  weaknesses, 
its  limitations,  its  necessities,  its  corruption  and  its 
death,  sufficiently  manifest  our  lowliness,  while,  on  the 
other  hand,  the  body  in  which  Christ's  glory  is  mani- 
fested, and  which  is  the  instrument  for  His  glory,  is 
presented  in  fullest  contrast  to  it. 

The  great  truth  of  Christ's  continual  glorified  man- 
hood is  the  first  which  we  draw  from  these  words. 
The  story  of  our  Lord's  Resurrection  suggests  indeed 
that  He  brought  the  same  body  from  the  tomb  as 
loving  hands  had  laid  there.  The  invitation  to  Thomas 
to  thrust  his  hands  into  the  prints  of  the  nails,  the 
similar  invitation  to  the  assembled  disciples,  and  His 
partaking  of  food  in  their  presence,  seemed  to  forbid 
the  idea  of  His  rising  changed.  Nor  can  we  suppose 
that  the  body  of  His  glory  would  be  congruous  with 
His  presence  on  earth.  But  we  have  to  think  of  His 
ascension  as  gradual,  and  of  Himself  as  'changed  by 
still  degrees'  as  He  ascended,  and  so  as  returned  to 
where  the  *  glory  which  He  had  with  the  Father  before 


896  PHILIPPIANS  [ch.  in. 

the  world  was,'  as  the  Shechinah  cloud  received  Him 
out  of  the  sight  of  the  gazers  below.  If  this  be  the 
true  reading  of  His  last  moments  on  earth,  He  united 
in  His  own  experience  both  the  ways  of  leaving  it 
which  His  followers  experience  —  che  way  of  sleep 
which  is  death,  and  the  way  of  '  being  changed.' 

But  at  whatever  point  the  change  came,  He  now 
wears,  and  for  ever  will  wear,  the  body  of  a  man.  That 
is  the  dominant  fact  on  which  is  built  the  Christian 
belief  in  a  future  life,  and  which  gives  to  that  belief 
all  its  solidity  and  force,  and  separates  it  from  vague 
dreams  of  immortality  which  are  but  a  wish 
tremblingly  turned  into  a  hope,  or  a  dread  shudder- 
ingly  turned  into  an  expectation.  The  man  Christ 
Jesus  is  the  pattern  and  realised  ideal  of  human  life 
on  earth,  the  revelation  of  the  divine  life  through 
a  human  life,  and  in  His  gloriJBed  humanity  is  no  less 
the  pattern  and  realised  ideal  of  what  human  nature 
may  become.  The  present  state  of  the  departed  is  in- 
complete in  that  they  have  not  a  body  by  which  they 
can  act  on,  and  be  acted  on  by,  an  external  universe. 
We  cannot  indeed  suppose  them  lapped  in  age-long 
unconsciousness,  and  it  may  be  that  the  'dead  in 
Christ'  are  through  Him  brought  into  some  know- 
ledge of  externals,  but  for  the  full-summed  perfection 
of  their  being,  the  souls  under  the  altar  have  to  wait 
for  the  resurrection  of  the  body.  If  resurrection  is 
needful  for  completion  of  manhood,  then  completed 
manhood  must  necessarily  be  set  in  a  locality,  and 
the  glorified  manhood  of  Jesus  must  also  now  be  in  a 
place.  To  think  thus  of  it  and  of  Him  is  not  to 
vulgarise  the  Christian  conception  of  Heaven,  but  to 
give  it  a  definiteness  and  force  which  it  sorely  lacks  in 
popular  thinking.    Nor  is  the  continual  manhood  of 


vs.  17-21]    WARNINGS  AND  HOPES  897 

our  Lord  less  precious  in  its  influence  in  helping  our 
familiar  approach  to  Him.  It  tells  us  that  He  is  still 
and  for  ever  the  same  as  when  on  earth,  glad  to 
welcome  all  who  came  and  to  help  and  heal  all  who 
need  Him.  It  is  one  of  ourselves  who  *  sitteth  at  the 
right  hand  of  God.'  His  manhood  brings  Him  memories 
which  bind  Him  to  us  sorrowing  and  struggling,  and 
His  glory  clothes  Him  with  power  to  meet  all  our 
needs,  to  stanch  all  our  wounds,  to  satisfy  all  our 
desires. 

Our  text  leads  us  to  think  of  the  wondrous  transfor- 
mation into  Christ's  likeness.  We  know  not  what  are 
the  differences  between  the  body  of  our  humiliation 
and  the  body  of  His  glory,  but  we  must  not  be  led 
away  by  the  word  Resurrection  to  fall  into  the  mistake 
of  supposing  that  in  death  we  *  sow  that  body  which 
shall  be.'  Paul's  great  chapter  in  I.  Corinthians  should 
have  destroyed  that  error  for  ever,  and  it  is  a 
singular  instance  of  the  persistency  of  the  most  un- 
supported mistakes  that  there  are  still  thousands  of 
people  who  in  spite  of  all  that  they  know  of  what  be- 
falls our  mortal  bodies,  and  of  how  their  parts  pass 
into  other  forms,  still  hold  by  that  crude  idea.  We 
have  no  material  by  which  to  construct  any,  even  the 
vaguest,  outline  of  that  body  that  shall  be.  We  can 
only  run  out  the  contrasts  as  suggested  by  Paul  in 
1st  Corinthians,  and  let  the  dazzling  greatness  of  the 
positive  thought  which  he  gives  in  the  text  lift  our 
expectations.  Weakness  will  become  power,  corrup- 
tion incorruption,  liability  to  death  immortality,  dis- 
honour glory,  and  the  frame  which  belonged  and  corre- 
sponded to  'that  which  was  natural,'  shall  be  trans- 
formed into  a  body  which  is  the  organ  of  that  which 
is  spiritual.    These  things  tell  us  little,  but  they  may  be 


398  PHILIPPIANS  [ch.  hi. 

all  fused  into  the  great  light  of  likeness  to  the  body  of 
His  glory ;  and  though  that  tells  us  even  less,  it  feeds 
hope  more  and  satisfies  our  hearts  even  whilst  it  does 
not  feed  our  curiosity.  We  may  well  be  contented  to 
acknowledge  that  *it  doth  not  yet  appear  what  we 
shall  be,'  when  we  can  go  on  to  say,  '  We  know  that 
when  He  shall  appear  we  shall  be  like  Him.'  It  is 
enough  for  the  disciple  that  he  be  as  his  Master. 

But  we  must  not  forget  that  the  Apostle  regards 
even  this  overwhelming  change  as  but  part  of  a 
mightier  process,  even  the  universal  subjection  of  all 
things  unto  Christ  Himself.  The  Emperor  reduces  the 
whole  world  to  subjection,  and  the  glorifying  of  the 
body  as  the  climax  of  the  universal  subjugation  repre- 
sents it  as  the  end  of  the  process  of  assimilation  begun 
in  this  mortal  life.  There  is  no  possibility  of  a  resur- 
rection unto  life  unless  that  life  has  been  begun  before 
death.  That  ultimate  glorious  body  is  needed  to  bring 
men  into  correspondence  with  the  external  universe. 
As  ia  the  locality  so  is  the  body.  Flesh  and  blood 
cannot  inherit  the  Kingdom  of  God.  This  whole  series 
of  thoughts  makes  our  glorious  resurrection  the  result 
not  of  death,  but  of  Christ's  living  power  on  His  people. 
It  is  only  in  the  measure  in  which  He  lives  in  us  and 
we  in  Him,  and  are  partaking  by  daily  participation  in 
the  power  of  His  Resurrection,  that  we  shall  be  made 
subjects  of  the  working  whereby  He  is  able  even  to 
subject  all  things  unto  Himself,  and  finally  be  con- 
formed to  the  body  of  His  glory. 


